Impressionism
A group of artists in 1874 organized an exhibition in France, Paris. This launched the Impressionist movement. Claude Monet, Edgar Degas and Camille Pissarro were the founding members of this Movement. They were not praised by the critics, because of their works 'unfinished, sketchlike appearance' However other progressive writers thought it was a good 'depiction of modern life'. Today their work is recognized for it's use of new ideas and technology, depiction of 'modern life' and the way it embodied modernity in it's 'rejection of established styles'.The Impressionists were given their name after an exhibition in 1874, Paris when Louis Leroy accused Claude Monte's painting titled Impression, Sunrise of being a 'sketch or impression' rather than a finished painting.
Impression, Sunrise (Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris)
You could see the use of the typical characteristics such as short and broken strokes of loose brushwork, unblended pure colours and a certain emphasis on the light effects.
Painters in previous generations had used neutral tones of black and grays to create shadows, however the impressionists gave colour to shadow by painting them with purples, yellows and many other colours. They enhanced the colours that caught their attention.
In the 19th century synthetic pigments for paints were a new development. They provided vibrant shades of blues and greens and yellows that were new to painters.
Vincent van Gogh, 1888, Starry Night over the Rhone
Features short, thick brush strokes as well as vivid colours in light and shadow.
Will Howe Foote, 1913, Summer
Each pure colour is applied separately and gives the impression of 'flickering light' and 'vibrating atmoshpere'.
Unknown, Characteristics of American Impressionism.
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, Impressionism: Art & Modernity, [online] available at http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/imml/hd_imml.htm.
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