Impressionism: what it is, and characteristics of this artistic style

The world of impressionism is the world of Belle Epoque. The beginning, the year 1874; Paris was seething with innovation and change. On Boulevard des Capucines, a former photographer's studio is open every day until ten at night. Inside, the works of innovative artists are exhibited that Louis Leroy, an art critic, has pejoratively called "impressionists". Thus he quotes them in the article that he writes for the satirical newspaper Le Charivari: “The Impressionist Exhibition”. As often happens, the denomination, at first mocking and with the sole intention of mocking its authors, transcends time and ends up giving the movement an official name.

Who were those young people (and not so young) who were exhibiting on the Boulevard des Capucines, that April of 1874? It was a group of artists disenchanted with official art (which did not allow them to give free rein to their creations), grouped under the unoriginal name of Anonymous Society of Artists, Peintres, sculptors, Graveurs, etc. The exhibition showed the work that would inspire Leroy to give the group its name:

Impression. Rising Sunby Claude Monet.

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Characteristics of impressionism: rebellious painters?

If these artists had to exhibit outside the official Salon, it meant, of course, that his style was not well received. And indeed; We have already commented how the critic Louis Leroy attacks them harshly in his article. However, it is fair to say that the reputation of rebels that has been given to this group of painters of the Boulevard des Capucines (the embryo of what would become Impressionism years later) is not entirely deserved. Because, while it is true that it was from this 1874 exhibition that the movement gained strength (and, with it, all the anti-academic charge it carried) it is not Less than long before there were other artists who also dared to lighten their brushstrokes and capture light and atmosphere on canvas above the shape.

Édouard Manet, the father of impressionism?

Édouard Manet (1832-1883) has traditionally been considered the "spiritual father" of the movement, despite the fact that the artist never fully identified with it or exhibited alongside the Impressionists. Indeed, Manet never saw himself as a "rebel artist," despite the fact that two of his works caused quite a stir.. We are actually talking about the well-known Lunch on the grass (1863), which was rejected by the Lounge official, and the no less famous olympia, made in the same year but exhibited in 1865.

Traditionally, it has been considered that the scandal came from presenting naked women in a context far from mythology or allegory (the only contexts in which it was allowed), although Recent studies are inclined to think, in light of the criticisms that were published at the time, that the shock came more from the flat use of colors and the way they were captured on the canvas.

Manet's works are framed in the years before the birth of the impressionist group and, although it is true that he promoted the movement and was friends with some of its members (such as Claude Monet), the influences of this style are not seen in his work until the last years of his production. Some examples of these late impressionist works are a parisian (1882), painted a year before his death, or the curious canvas a stud (1880).

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The long history of “impressionism”

Actually, finding the origin of impressionism is difficult, and also risky. Unlike other movements with clear antecedents, the trajectory of what we call impressionism can be extended to the very seventeenth century. There is nothing more to contemplate the magnificent Views of the garden of the Villa Medici in Rome, by Diego Velázquez (executed around 1630) to verify that the Impressionist technique expanded well beyond the final decades of the 19th century.

Velázquez captures the exterior of the Roman villa with quick and loose brushstrokes, and thus manages to capture the effects of light that, in a similar way to the “canonical” impressionist paintings, blurs the forms and confuses the colors.

And of course, The brushwork of William Turner (1775-1851), a true visionary ahead of his time, is also impressionist., not in vain known as "the painter of light". As early as 1812, Turner had finished painting Hannibal crossing the Alps, whose sun rising between the frenetic brushstrokes inevitably reminds *Impression.

Rising Sun* by Monet. His work is still more "impressionist" Rain, steam and speed, dated 1844 and which, thirty years before the name of the group, could already be considered a fully impressionist painting.

The “canonical” precedents that the manuals collect from the impressionists of the Boulevard des Capucines are John-Barthold Jongkind (1819-1891), a Normandy-based Dutch painter whose seascapes perfectly capture the atmosphere of the sea; and Eugène Boudin (1824-1898), one of the first artists to paint au plein air (in the open air) and which strongly influenced the first Monet.

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Characteristics of impressionism

After taking a brief tour of the background of impressionism and explaining how and where it was originated the "official" group, we believe it necessary to specify what are the characteristics of this motion.

atmosphere and light

We have already commented on the loose and fast brushstroke as one of the most recognizable elements of him. The impressionists of the 19th century moved away from academic art and looked for other artistic languages; They find this new path in the capture of the atmosphere and, therefore, of light. For the impressionists, the subject has ceased to be important; what is really essential in a painting is the way of representing reality.

To capture this ever-changing atmosphere, the Impressionists need a quick and visible brushstroke, which allows all the nuances of light to be captured. These nuances are so valued that some of these artists come to make "series" of the same theme; Famous is the one that Claude Monet dedicates to Rouen Cathedral, made up of no less than 30 paintings that capture the building's façade at various times of the day.

But not only the passage of time (and, therefore, the change of light) attracts the impressionists. They are also interested in the different environments that different atmospheric phenomena give to the same place. The Spanish painter Fernando de Amárica (1866-1956), who develops a good part of his work in an impressionist style, made in 1905 his city ​​with sun, a perspective of the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca in Vitoria-Gasteiz on a bright day; a year later, he painted exactly the same spot in the city with heavy rain (city ​​with rain, 1906).

full air

And if the quick and loose brushstroke was an essential element to produce impressionist works, what to say about the open air. It is completely impossible to capture light variations from inside a studio, so the artists begin to leave their rooms and throw themselves into nature, into the city, into life.

In the development of plein-air painting (au plein air, in French) had a lot to do with the technical improvement that drove the Second Industrial Revolution. The brushes incorporated a metallic piece that firmly adhered the bristles to the wood, which made them much more resistant. On the other hand, packaged paints began to be marketed, both in tubes and cans, which saved the artist the tedium of preparing the pigments. Also, these containers were, of course, much more "wearable."

It is the eye that mixes, not the painter

Being much easier to handle, paint in rolled tubes emphasized the application of pigments. directly on the canvas, without mixing, which was directly related to the optical theories of moment.

In impressionist canvases, the colors are not mixed, but are arranged strategically so that it is the eye of the beholder who mixes them. That is why, if we look at one of these works too closely, the only thing we will be able to perceive is a meaningless amalgamation of colors. But, when we take the necessary steps away... the magic is done! The scene appears before us.

Of course, it is not a sharp and clear scene like those offered by official academic art. For many, the impressionists "destroyed" the painting, offering "sketches" as finished paintings; in short, they laughed at the public. Not surprisingly, in the scathing criticism of Louis Leroy that we have already cited in the introduction, the fictional painter who he goes to see the exhibition, in front of one of the exhibited paintings, he takes off his glasses and cleans them, believing that they are dirty.

What the poor painter in Leroy's review was unaware (or wanted to be unaware) was that after the invention of photography in the 1830s, “realistic” painting ceased to make sense. The enormous weight that the photographic camera had in the birth of these new movements and in the course of the history of 20th century art cannot be denied. And by the way, it is still ironic that the first Impressionist exhibition, the one that took place in 1874 and was the target of so many jokes, was located in an old photographic studio.

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The great protagonists of this artistic movement

We have already cited Manet as the supposed father of impressionism (although we have already seen that he was not exactly like that). But who were the painters who exhibited for the first time on the Boulevard des Capucines, that April 15, 1874?

Among them we find Claude Monet (1840-1926), for many, the maximum representative and soul of the movement. His famous water lilies, a series of paintings based on the flowers in the pond at his home, have become a true symbol of Impressionism, and let's not forget that it was his Impression. Rising Sun, which gave its name to the style.

However, Camille Pisarro (1830-1903) was the figure who brought the group together and the one who promoted it more actively, despite the fact that in the 1880s he leaned towards Seurat's pointillist theories. On the other hand, Edgar Degas (1834-1917), famous for his paintings of ballerinas, was not really an absolute impressionist, because he took his inspiration from models as classic as Ingres's paintings or as exotic as ukiyo-e prints. japanese.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) is another of the great names of impressionism which, however, also presents elements that distance it somewhat from the essence of the movement. Famous are his party paintings, which perfectly portray the joy of the Belle Epoque; Dancing at the Moulin de la Galette (1876) is one of her most characteristic works.

On the contrary, Alfred Sisley (1839-1899) is one of the most forgotten names, although many scholars give him the honor of being the "purest" impressionist.. Her works, mainly focused on the beautiful landscapes around Paris (especially the Moret-sur-Loing region), perfectly capture the atmosphere of light and sky. Little or nothing appreciated in life, Sisley passed away in poverty, and only after her death did her work begin to be considered as it deserves.

Finally, we cannot end this article without mentioning the great impressionist women. Berthe Morrisot (1841-1895), Manet's disciple, model and sister-in-law (she married Eugène, his brother) is one of the most prominent figures. Her splendid production, evidently influenced by Renoir (or perhaps the other way around...) deserves to be in a prominent place in the movement. Unfortunately, as is often the case, Berthe's name has been out of the volumes of art history for too many years, in the same way as Mary Cassatt (1845-1927), the painter who exported Impressionism to the United States Joined.