Look at the way the artist used the medium.

-Describe the way the medium was used in one sentence.

IMPRESSIONISM

IMPRESSIONISMA 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists. Their independent exhibitions made them popular during the 1870s and 1880s, in spite of harsh opposition from the conventional, realistic art community in France. Instead, colors are applied side-by-side with as little mixing as possible, creating a vibrant surface while focusing on the play of light.

Impressionism Characteristics1. Short, thick strokes of paint/pastel that quickly capture the essence of the

subject, rather than its details. 2. By using pure, unblended colors, the optical mixing of colors occurs in the eye

of the viewer by placing colors side by side.3. Grays and dark tones are produced by mixing complementary colors.4. Rather than neutral white, grays, and blacks, Impressionists often rendered

shadows and highlights in color. Pure impressionism avoids the use of black paint.

5. The play of natural light is emphasized. Close attention is paid to the reflection of colors from object to object.

6. In paintings made en plein air (outdoors), shadows are boldly painted with the blue of the sky as it is reflected onto surfaces, giving a sense of freshness previously not represented in painting. (Blue shadows on snow inspired the technique.)

7. Impressionist often worked in the evening to produce effets de soir—the shadowy effects of evening or twilight.

The artists' loose brushwork gives an effect of spontaneity and effortlessness that masks their often carefully constructed compositions, such as: Alfred Sisley (1878)-

Allée of Chestnut Trees

History of Impressionism• In 1874, a group of artists called the Anonymous Society of

Painters, Sculptors, Printmakers, etc. organized an exhibition in Paris that launched the movement called Impressionism. They broke free from the Salon and the Royal Academy.

• Its founding members included Claude Monet and Edgar Degas, among others.

• While conservative critics panned their work for its unfinished, sketch-like appearance, more progressive writers praised it for its depiction of modern life.

• Claude Monet's Impression, Sunrise, exhibited in 1874, gave the Impressionist movement its name when the critic Louis Leroy accused it of being a sketch or "impression," not a finished painting.

Claude Monet's Impression, Sunrise

Impressionist Include:

Claude Monet (1840–1926): the most prolific of the Impressionists and the one who embodies their aesthetic

most obviously

Red Boats at Argenteuil

Edgar Degas (1834–1917)He despised the term Impressionist . He also differed from the Impressionists in that

he "never adopted the Impressionist color fleck",[and he disliked painting en plein air.

Blue Dancers; c. 1899

Paul Cézanne (1839–1906): Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th-century Impressionism and the early

20th century's new line of artistic enquiry, Cubism.

The Basket of Apples

Mary Cassatt (1844–1926): American-born, she lived in Paris and participated in four Impressionist exhibitions. She also introduced

pastels as a main for of medium to the United States.

Breakfast in Bed

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919): was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a

celebrator of beauty, and especially feminine sensuality,

Dance at Le moulin de la Galette

Édouard Manet (1832–1883): Though he did not participate in any of the Impressionist exhibitions, he was a pivotal figure

in the transition from Realism to Impressionism.

The Grand Canal of Venice

Dance at Le moulin de la Galette

Berthe Morisot (1841–1895): Protégé of Édouard Manet. The leading female Impressionist painter; breaking barriers for

female artists.

The Cradle

Dance at Le moulin de la Galette

Impressionism

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