What is Impressionism? Representatives and Features

Working with an artist four young people The fact that they found themselves drawing in distant places would create a whole movement. Nowadays, the pictures we put on our computer screens and hang on the walls of our homes, perhaps without realizing it; It belongs to the artists.

Impressionism pushed aside traditional norms, offered a fresh look and changed the perspective on art. Come now “What is impressionism, what are the characteristics of the impressionism art movement and who are its representatives?” Let’s examine the works that you can’t get enough of by answering your questions.

Let’s start from the basics, what is impressionism?

Impressionism in France in the 19th century; It is an important movement that developed first in painting and then in music. impressionist painting, It includes works produced by artists living between 1876 and 1886 who shared a range of techniques.

The most striking feature in the picture is; It is the depiction of colors and nature lights blended with small, visible brush strokes. Impressionist movement artists, It meets in the desire to put aside the strict rules of academic style painting.

The interesting story of the emergence of the name of the Impressionism movement:

The term “Impressionism” was not chosen by the artists. In his article on an opening exhibition, French art critic Louis Leroy wrote that Monet’s 1872 “Impression, Sunrise” He made fun of his painting and wrote the following words:

“A preliminary drawing for the wallpaper painting would be a more complete drawing than this seascape.”

We will see the work he mentioned towards the end of our content.

So how exactly did impressionism, the first modern movement in painting, come into being?

The wave of other areas of modernization influenced impressionism. Industrial revolution and invention of the railway; It gave middle- and lower-class Parisians more free time and the opportunity to travel quickly and cheaply to the countryside. During this time, in the 1860s, four young art students (Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Frédéric Bazille) met each other while studying under academic artist Charles Gleyre. of the future, representatives of the impressionism art movement they would be.

In their spare time, they would take trains to remote areas around the city, painting fields, rivers, warm sunlight, workers, and Parisians enjoying the day by the sea. Here are the pictures drawn by these four friends at that time, pioneers of the impressionism art movement It enabled them to become popular and created a whole movement.

Characteristics of the impressionism art movement that challenges traditional norms:

• Rather than being confined to the studio, artists worked in the countryside outside Paris. outdoor He prefers painting.
• The fleeting impressions of light they are trying to portray require them to paint very quickly. so thin They do not pay much attention to details.
• Instead of using black or gray paint to depict shadows complementary colors they match.
• Perhaps the most prominent feature of Impressionism is that it deviates from traditional art techniques and creates short and artistic styles. thick brush strokes their use. This is done to create an “impressionistic” effect and make the figures less prominent.
• modern life and impact of urbanization are reflected in the tables.
• Instead of exhibiting their paintings in art exhibitions, the Impressionists in independent exhibitions prefers to show it. This allows them to work more freely and turn to new techniques.
• painters, original and emotional He tries to present a surreal experience in his paintings with a style of expression.

The Impressionism art movement was not limited to painting.

The characteristics of Impressionism spilled over from the visual arts and into the fields of music and literature. “Musical impressionism”, It involved creating the impression of atmosphere or mood and was popular in France in the late 19th century. French writers and poets represented the movement of impressionism with syntactic diversity and fragmented prose.

Artists of the impressionism movement, which brought modern brush strokes to the canvas:

• Claude Monet (1850-1926)
• Alfred Sisrey (1839-1899)
• Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)
• Frédéric Bazille

Claude Monet (1850-1926), whom we see in the picture above, representatives of impressionism He is one of the leading names among We’ve probably all come across one of his works at least once. The artist is famous for his paintings featuring the combination of water and greenery.

Another name from the representatives of impressionism is Alfred Sisrey (1839-1899). with landscape paintings comes to the fore. It represents the nature and atmosphere focused aspect of the Impressionist movement.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), pictured above, is mostly known for his portraits of social life and women. One of the important representatives of the impressionism movement and Renoir, one of its pioneers, creates an emotional effect using colors and light.

Another pioneer of the impressionism movement, Frédéric Bazille, generally figurative compositions He would focus. But unfortunately his career ended at an early age and he died in the war at the age of 29. Had he lived longer, he might have had a more significant impact on the impressionism movement.

Let’s look at the important works of the Impressionism movement and get lost in the beauty of the paintings:

• Impression: Sunrise
• A night with stars
• Snow in Louveciennes
• Two Sisters on the Terrace
• View of the Village

“What is Impressionism?” The first picture that comes to mind is: “Impression: Sunrise”

“Impression, Sunrise”, created by Monet and which gave its name to impressionism, shows us that the starting point of impressionism is light. The rising sun, smoking chimneys, fog… The style of the work was brand new. Reduction of colors, use of contrasting colors, vagueness of edge lines and brush strokes create vibration Capturing the moment with; It was an ideal example of the impressionism movement.

Van Gogh’s painting “Starry Night” was also an example of impressionism:

Vincent van Gogh’s magnificent signature work “A night with stars”, One of the paintings considered within the impressionism movement. When we look carefully at the brush strokes and composition, we can see clues.

Here is the work “Snow at Louveciennes” by Alfred Sisley, one of the representatives of Impressionism:

snow view Alfred Sisley’s impressive portrayal with brush strokes also proved the evolution of the artist’s style. He painted this work from the window of his house in Louveciennes, as he could not paint in the greenery outside due to the weather conditions.

“Two Sisters on the Terrace”, created by the talented hands of Pierre Auguste Renoir:

Impressionism movement Another pioneer name, Pierre Auguste Renoir, also stood out with his fixation on the places and landscapes he loved. One of these places was the family restaurant “House Furnes” you see above. In the restaurant, he created a moving depiction of the sisters.

“Village Landscape” reveals Bazille’s technique and the distinctive features of the movement:

Sitting on a stone ledge overlooking the village of Castelnau-le-Lez in the Hérault region of France depiction of a young woman We can see it in the work. Isn’t every detail fascinating?

These were some of the most memorable works of impressionism. Of course, there are hundreds of other impressive works by other valuable artists. We are content with these for now and “What is Impressionism?” We tried to explain the question through the characteristics of the art movement, its representatives and its most important works. If there are other art movements you are curious about, you can write them in the comments.

Don’t forget to check out our other content about art movements: