Overview Of Impressionist Art

Impressionist art as an artistic movement began in France in the late 19th century by four students in the studio of painter Marc Gleyre: Monet, Renoir, Sisley, and Bazille. The group would later come to include Cezanne, Pissarro, Morisot, Degas and Manet. These painters were considered very controversial at the time due to the fact that they rejected academic standards of the day. Many of these painters would be involved with the movement for just short periods of their artistic careers.

Impressionist artists were characterized by their visual impressions influenced by nature, and in life around them rather than in historical subjects. The impressionist art movement sought to depict whatever they happened to see at a given moment by using pure, broken and often unmixed color to achieve an appearance of spontaneity. To be able to capture nature and the changing effects of light they would often paint outside instead of in a studio. While they painted ordinary everyday subject they still tended to avoid subjects that were ugly or vulgar. They also omitted detail in their subjects to create a striking overall effect.

The work of Monet, Sisly and Pissarro usually consisted of landscapes and the changing effects of light. Degas was more interested in depicting the realism of contempory life and actual experiences and everyday urban scenes. Renoir would be known for creating images that were quite beautiful and inviting, the colors light and warm.

These artists would later influence the postimpressionist who would come after them. These included Cezanne, Seurat, Gauguin, and Van Gogh. Other artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec would be greatly inspired by the work of Degas. The landscape painters of the impressionist period would go on to influence the work of Matisse, Vuillard, and Bonnard.