The genre of painting which became known as Impressionism began around the latter half of the 19th century in Paris. A group of artists broke away from the accepted trend of depicting religious and historical subjects in a very rigid and formal manner. They began to use more color and tried to capture the effects of light and movement in their painting. Above all their brush strokes became a part of their work rather than smoothed over as in earlier paintings. These modern impressionist artists, it could be said, began to put their own feelings onto the canvas and left photographers to capture lifelike images.
There were many restless young artists in Paris at that time who wanted to make their own kind of pictures but found it difficult to go against the establishment of the day. One of the leaders was Claude Monet and it was one of his early paintings that inadvertently gave the movement its name. It was called 'Impression, Sunrise' and was not well received by the critics of the day who focused unkindly no doubt on the title, little knowing that they were creating a sort of history.
The French establishment of the day had decided that painters should constrain themselves to painting historical and religious subjects and portraiture. Paintings were somber and serious. The portraits in fact took the place of photographs which had yet to arrive.
Others like Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley were also part of the movement. They were all greatly influenced by Edouard Manet. At that time virtually all painting was done indoors, in studios. These young men took their brushes and palettes and painted outside. There they fell under the spell of light and movement. They painted their 'impression' of a child at play, of trees or of people at work. They painted perhaps more quickly to capture the image as they saw it.
The techniques they employed were, for their day, revolutionary. Gone was the smooth finish with little to show that the paint had ever been applied to the canvas by brush. Now brush marks were de rigueur. Thick, short strokes of bright colors filled canvasses with pictures of workers in the fields, city street scenes and natural landscapes. Capturing the way the light fell on the fold of a dress or the movement of leaves in the breeze became of paramount importance. Black was practically banned and colors were not mixed to sludgy browns but applied as they came from the tube, side by side, not even allowing time for one to dry before its neighbor was stroked on.
Although Paris may have been the hub, the new art form soon spread all over the world. Some foreign artists came to Paris to study and were influenced by people like Degas and Cezanne. Others evolved in their own countries. Tom Roberts and John Peter Russell were well known Australian artists. Mary Cassatt, Willard Metcalf, Theodore Robinson and Childe Hassam were among the plethora of impressionists in the New World.
With time their work became accepted and began to sell. They had proved their point and established their own tenets. But nothing stands still. Soon there were new trends. Post-impressionism, neo-impressionism, fauvism and indeed the entire gamut of abstract art can be traced back to this time.
Today many examples of the works of modern impressionist artists can be seen on the internet. For those aspiring to become painters this is a good way to learn different styles. There are also helpful tutorials which will explain the usage of brushes and colors in this type of painting.
There were many restless young artists in Paris at that time who wanted to make their own kind of pictures but found it difficult to go against the establishment of the day. One of the leaders was Claude Monet and it was one of his early paintings that inadvertently gave the movement its name. It was called 'Impression, Sunrise' and was not well received by the critics of the day who focused unkindly no doubt on the title, little knowing that they were creating a sort of history.
The French establishment of the day had decided that painters should constrain themselves to painting historical and religious subjects and portraiture. Paintings were somber and serious. The portraits in fact took the place of photographs which had yet to arrive.
Others like Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley were also part of the movement. They were all greatly influenced by Edouard Manet. At that time virtually all painting was done indoors, in studios. These young men took their brushes and palettes and painted outside. There they fell under the spell of light and movement. They painted their 'impression' of a child at play, of trees or of people at work. They painted perhaps more quickly to capture the image as they saw it.
The techniques they employed were, for their day, revolutionary. Gone was the smooth finish with little to show that the paint had ever been applied to the canvas by brush. Now brush marks were de rigueur. Thick, short strokes of bright colors filled canvasses with pictures of workers in the fields, city street scenes and natural landscapes. Capturing the way the light fell on the fold of a dress or the movement of leaves in the breeze became of paramount importance. Black was practically banned and colors were not mixed to sludgy browns but applied as they came from the tube, side by side, not even allowing time for one to dry before its neighbor was stroked on.
Although Paris may have been the hub, the new art form soon spread all over the world. Some foreign artists came to Paris to study and were influenced by people like Degas and Cezanne. Others evolved in their own countries. Tom Roberts and John Peter Russell were well known Australian artists. Mary Cassatt, Willard Metcalf, Theodore Robinson and Childe Hassam were among the plethora of impressionists in the New World.
With time their work became accepted and began to sell. They had proved their point and established their own tenets. But nothing stands still. Soon there were new trends. Post-impressionism, neo-impressionism, fauvism and indeed the entire gamut of abstract art can be traced back to this time.
Today many examples of the works of modern impressionist artists can be seen on the internet. For those aspiring to become painters this is a good way to learn different styles. There are also helpful tutorials which will explain the usage of brushes and colors in this type of painting.
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