Impressionism: characteristics, works and most important artists

The Impressionist movement represents a turning point in the history of Western painting. Although it cannot be called an avant-garde art, it can be said that impressionism paved the way for what some experts call “The differentiating will of style” among the artists who, finally, made possible the germination of the avant-garde spirit (Pierre Francastel).

Around 1867, the painter Edouard Manet exhibited his scandalous paintings at the Hall of the Rejected in Paris Olympia Y Lunch on the grass, because the jury did not find it worthy of the Official Salon, like the work of almost three thousand artists.

Other artists such as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas or Pierre-Auguste Renoir had also been systematically rejected. They all had something in common: they were convinced that they had something new to show and that their point of view was valuable. But what was it they were proposing and what made them so important?

A new look

Artists such as Monet, Renoir, Berthe Morisot, Guillaumin, Degas, Sisley or Pissarro, among many others, shared common plastic values ​​and principles. To begin with, they proposed a citizen art par excellence.

As industrialization advanced and European cities modernized, the judges of the Official Paris Salon they were still attached to pre-modern themes: pastoral landscapes, the plant world, the great historical mythologies, etc.

The Impressionists, on the other hand, recognized the modern city as a landscape, because they understood that historical changes also affected the function of art.

For example, if before people had to have a lot of money and time to commission a portrait, now, with the invention of the photography, that was possible in a matter of minutes and at a very low cost, with the advantage that the image could be play.

These dissatisfied artists wondered: will an art that barely "documents" the world of ancient ideas and whose language does not evolve still be viable? Is an art that limits itself to portraying nature perfectly useful? To portray is photography! Of course art can do much more than this! It's a matter of perspective, they'll say.

First, the Impressionists took advantage of the fact that photography was in black and white. Later, some industrial advances facilitated certain transformations in the modes of production of art. For example, thanks to industrialization, artists were able to have oil paints in tubes, allowing them to go outside to paint without fear of the paint drying out.

By working quietly in the open air, they set their sights on depicting beautiful but instantaneous light phenomena that required speed to catch them on the canvas: a sunset, the reflection of light on the water, the way lighting changes the color of things, etc.

Thus, they began to develop a new technique that would become a true pictorial school, focused on light and color. Let's see what these techniques and characteristics are that defined Impressionism.

Characteristics of impressionism

The Impressionists understood reality as constant becoming and not as to be finish. For these artists, things are not They are; simply, the things seem to be.

Therefore, they opened themselves to the sensory perception of the moment, of the unrepeatable moment that had to be registered immediately and quickly. Among the characteristic elements of impressionism we have:

Light as a fundamental interest

The Impressionists established as a fundamental point the study of light through pictorial technique. They understood that colors were not a property of objects, but the result of the refraction of light on matter.

Until now, light had been studied in art as a symbol of divinity or knowledge (Gothic art), or as plastic element to achieve defined volumes and realistic and naturalistic representations (Renaissance, classicism).

The Impressionists make light itself the center of interest and, therefore, focus on the representation of its effects. That is, they study light as a phenomenon: its behavior, its evolution in the moment, the way it interacts with objects. Thus, all the techniques and characteristics that they developed follow this foundation. It will be evident in the following points.

New frames and points of view

Many Impressionist artists explored angles, perspectives, and framing never before seen in painting. By then photography followed the classical aesthetics of the Renaissance, but it is true that new approaches and angles were already beginning to emerge. Seduced by these possibilities, the Impressionists broke away from classical, frontal and symmetrical framing, and opted for unexpected angles in painting.

In addition, the Impressionists were interested in the moments that go unnoticed or the scenes that remain hidden from the eyes of the spectators, such as this example by Edgar Degas. In the image above, we see how Degas represents a ballet rehearsal on stage from the orchestra pit, as accused by the riso of a double bass in the lower left corner.

Abandonment of correct drawing

Perfectly outlined drawing becomes impractical for impressionists. Many of them will eliminate the line and project the volumes of the shapes by coloring directly, which reveals great mastery.

Others, such as Tolouse-Lautrec or Edgar Degas, will continue to use the line, but it will no longer be a defined and clean line, but rather with a somewhat nervous rhythm, with revisions and sudden impressions.

Overlay colors on the canvas

Now the Impressionists are not required to mix colors on the palette. In fact, many are freed from this passage and go out into the open in search of light phenomena. Influenced by optical theories, Impressionists mix colors directly on canvas.

They do this by using two techniques: either they mix one color over the other, or they have one primary color. side by side so that, seen at a distance, the vibration between the two generates the perception of the secondary color. This requires some complicity from the viewer.

See also Claude Monet and his works.

Brush strokes, brush strokes and dots

If the goal is to superimpose colors as quickly as possible to capture the fleeting effect of light, it is best to economize on details. Thus, the impressionists will prefer direct brush strokes, many times with thick strokes or with brush strokes. They will also use the overlay of points to create dough with volume.

Absence of finishes and suppression of details in favor of the whole

Since light phenomena are circumstantial and brief, impressionist painters must suppress the details, so admired in the art of the past, to favor the observation of the whole.

All these techniques make the work lack fine finishes; the lines are left open, the textures porous, and the lines, when they exist, disjointed or reviewed.

There is also a psychological game in this: the perception is completed in the brain of the spectator who, despite of these details, he manages to register in his brain a delimited image, whenever he looks at the work in his set.

Casual or inconsequential topics

Art prior to Impressionism, and even other parallel movements, insisted on representing transcendent content as justification for the value of the artistic work. Every naked woman was a Venus, never a mere woman. Death had to be heroic or transcendent; the landscape, a dream of other times; personal feelings, a flag to defend; poverty, an issue to denounce.

The Impressionists leave that world behind and recognize the reality that they have in front of their noses: for impressionism, a naked woman was a naked woman.

For example, Olympia It was a painting by Manet inspired by the well-known Venus of Urbino, painted by Titian in the 16th century, but the attributes of Venus were exchanged for the attributes of a prostitute. And what a scandal! She almost cost him the censorship of the paintings Olympia Y Lunch on the grass to Manet.

In addition, the city, already modified by the industrial landscape, also becomes worthy of representation, as well as everything in it: the people, the train stations, parties, meals, bohemian life, the park, rehearsals, the orchestra pit, horse races, gambling, the boulevard…

But in reality they do this not to dignify these issues themselves. They do it to ratify the importance of art and plastic language on the subject of representation. Any subject for them is an excuse for a good painting. It is not the theme that makes a work important: it is the way of representing it. With this, the impressionists advance on the path of the autonomy of art.

From rejected to impressionists: origin of the term

The artists who painted in this way shared many of their reflections with each other and felt part of a collective. They valued originality over perfection. In addition, they demanded a daring, complicit viewer who was willing to share a new point of view.

But this generation of the so-called "impressionists" had to face rejection, being the first to openly question the pictorial tradition based on respect for definite drawing, the spatial depth, the chiaroscuro and certainly the transcendent topics (historical, mythological, religious, literary and portraits of great personalities).

Of course there were somewhat lighter themes in the 19th century. The tradition of scenes of customs, still lifes, pastoral and marine landscapes is long. But at that time, for a work to enter the Official Grand Salon in Paris, it was necessary that it correspond to the great themes and current plastic values.

The Official Hall existed since the 18th century, and was the most important platform to promote the consecration of artists. All competed to deserve to appear in the Hall. But the Impressionists were systematically rejected.

In 1863, the jury of the Official Paris Salon had rejected such a number of works that a scandal was generated. Given the complaints of the artists, who wanted the public to speak, the French government subsidized a Hall of the Rejected, in which Manet participated. The disaster was such that the government never replicated the initiative again.

Inspired by Manet, the new talents decided to form a joint-stock company of painters, sculptors, and engravers, and finally, in 1874, they organized their own hall of the rejected. The exhibition was held in a space offered by the photographer Nadar and many people came out of curiosity, but without faith.

Indeed, the critic Louis Leroy had come, and was particularly astonished at Claude Monet's painting entitled Impression of the rising sun. He then published a criticism in the press that said:

“Looking at the work, I thought my glasses were dirty. What does this canvas represent?..., the painting had no right or wrong... Impression! Of course it produces an impression... the wallpaper in its embryonic state is more done than this marine... "

Disgruntled, but with cunning and elegance, the novice artists assumed disqualification as the name of the movement. Impressionists! Yes, we will be, and with great honor: impressionists!

And what at first was rejection, sooner rather than later became the longest standing ovation in modern art. Interest in Impressionism reaches such an extreme that today this movement, as fleeting as the sunsets that he painted, has its own museums in Paris: the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée de la Orangery.

But beware! It is true that the movement did not last long, but its influence is present in the art of posterity, both in European art and in Latin American art.

See also 16 Vincent Van Gogh paintings.

Major Impressionist Artists

There are many artists who set the tone in the Impressionist movement. In this section, we will mention some of the most important, and who participated in the first exhibition:

Edouard Manet (1832-1883)

He was truly a transitional painter who was never quite comfortable with being placed in the Impressionist movement, or at least not at first. However, he was a fundamental inspiration for young painters, especially since his exhibition in the Hall of the Rejected. Among his famous works, stand out Breakfast on the grass, Olympia Y A bar aux Folies Bergère.

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

The name of the Impressionist movement is indirectly due to Monet. He was able to achieve a fine and wonderful development of the lighting effects in all kinds of surfaces, such as on water lilies, water, cloudy atmospheres and textures of the vegetation. Among his most important works, stands out Impression of the rising sun and the series of Lily pads.

See also Claude Monet and his works: characteristics, analysis and meaning.

Camile Pissarro (1830-1903)

He became obsessed with highlighting how light transformed any landscape into a totally new reality before the viewer's eyes. Influenced by his travels to the Caribbean, where he studied the effects of light on the coasts of Venezuela, Pissarro painted his pictures as if they were snapshots, capturing the multiple faces of the same reality. Among his most important works, we can mention the series of the Boulevard de Montmartre Y Sunset at Éragny.

Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

This painter is well known for the systematic development of subjects such as dancers, musicians, and horses. In addition to capturing the effects of light very well, like any impressionist, Degas was very interested in innovative shots and instantaneous or fleeting moments. For this reason, he did not give importance to the "poses", but to the body twists discarded by tradition for "lack of elegance": a A woman tying her shoes while her knees go out at an angle, the moment a soap falls into the bathtub and it has to be lifted, etc. Among his works are: Dance class Y Absinthe.

See also 14 emblematic works of Edgar Degas.

Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)

She was a prominent woman in the movement, which was not easy in her time. She managed to exhibit at the Paris Salon in 1864, but she soon joined the Impressionist movement. Edourad Manet was her personal friend from 1868, from which time Morisot became a recurring theme in her painting.

By 1873, already touched by the impressionist style, it was rejected by the jury of the official salon. Thus he joined the great exhibition of the group that would give everyone the long-awaited professional projection. Among the most famous paintings of him can be mentioned The cradle Y Eugene Manet on the Isle of Wight.

Pierre-August Renoir (1841-1919)

His style is marked by the porosity of his line. He creates atmospheres with indefinite spots, without clear contours, where colors intermingle and planes are not distinguished, as if everything was woven and held by each element. The scenes that portray the bourgeois life of his time, the lunches, the parties, the walks are famous. Renoir is famous for his works Dance at the moulin de la Galette Y The rowers' lunch.

It may interest you: Renoir: the most important works of the impressionist painter

Other names of vital importance

Any list is usually unfair. Many are the names of fundamental impressionist painters in the development of the movement. We cannot develop them all, but at least we can record all the names that participated in the first exhibition that gave impetus to the movement.

In addition to Manet, Monet, Renoir, Morisot, Pissarro and Degas, in the first Impressionist exhibition we find Alfred Sisley, Paul Cézanne, Gustave Colin, Louis Debras, Armand Guillaumin, Louis Latouche, Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic, Stanislas Lépine, Zacharie Astruc, Antoine-Ferdinand Attendu, Édouard Béliard, Eugène Boudin, Félix Bracquemond, Édouard Brandon, Pierre-Isidore Bureau, Adolphe-Félix Cals, Jean-Baptiste-Léopold Levert, Alfred Meyer, Auguste de Moulins, Mulot-Durivage, Joseph de Nittis, Auguste-Louis-Marie Ottin, Léon-Auguste Ottin, Léopold Robert and Henri Rouart.

From then on, many more will join the movement, taking a fundamental turn towards the development of post-impressionist and avant-garde language.

Why is impressionism not an avant-garde movement?

Despite everything that Impressionism revolutionized pictorial technique, it is not considered properly an avant-garde movement, although it is recognized to have been key in the development of values ​​like artistic originality Y Personal style.

Regardless of all the influence it may have exerted, Impressionism remained attached to a pivotal concept of the entire Western pictorial tradition: it remained an art that imitated the nature a naturalistic art (not to be confused with the literary and pictorial movement known as naturalism).

This means that Impressionism continued to apply the basic principles of figuration Y verisimilitude, despite having broken with the domain of the line, spatial depth and chiaroscuro, as well as the obligation to represent transcendental themes.

With a renewed visual language and casual and modern themes, Impressionist artists opened the door for new generations to go out and explore revolutionary ideas. Surely, from post-impressionists and avant-garde artists to contemporary artists, the world has a lot to thank for impressionism.

It may interest you: Post-impressionism: its most important characteristics, authors and paintings