The Salons insisted in accepting only artwork following academic techniques, with historical, religious or mythological themes. Sculptors, like August Rodin and Medardo Rosso, were able to capture the brush strokes and impressionist spirit in their modern sculptures Monet is considered the greatest reference for impressionist painting because he was able to beautifully capture all of the elements that the movement set itself to realize. Each develops their method and thematic, for example, Degas preferred working inside, as opposed to other Impressionists that would only work outside with natural light.īerthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt would mainly paint indoors as well, for it was not considered respectable for a woman to do such task outdoors. Of course, not all impressionist artists worked the same way. Impressionism had an idea of capturing the visual impression that light caused, using contrasting and pure colors with strong, marked brush strokes, showing scenes of the modern-day world.

Degas was trained at the Art Academy but was strongly influenced by Manet’s modern take on art. This way of thinking was the same for their work, for the Impressionists valued their process as much as the paintings final result. Most of the scenes painted by him are backstage or during rehearsals, like The Dance Class, showing the importance of the process and not just the final result. The ballerinas in Degas works were done as if to imitate the spontaneous click of a camera, many times with blurred images as if the figures moved as the photo was taken. The spontaneous images created by photography deeply inspired the impressionist painters, for they too were seeking to capture a moment in time. In a way, he was right, for even though photography was not seen as an art form, the academic way of painting would soon be invalid because of this new technology. The academic painter Paul Delaroche said “painting is dead,” after seeing a daguerreotype (first photography process available to the public). The start of photography also changed the course of art. If you observe some impressionist painting along with Japanese woodcut prints, the references become apparent, for example, Monet’s painting Boating on the River Epte, with the print Two Ladies Picking Lotus Flowers of Suzuki Harunobu. Beautiful works of Asian art showing bright colors, dynamic compositions and displaying scenes of everyday life. What not many people know is that the impressionists were highly inspired by the Japanese prints coming to Europe. The critic, like most at the time, did not agree on this rupture with Academic Art and said he had seen better artistry in wallpaper. Art critic Louis Leroy entitled the movement Impressionism in a prerogative and insulting way after seeing Impression, Sunrise by Claude Monet.

Of course, this was not perceived at the time. Artists started leaving their ateliers to paint outside, as well as painting faster, to keep the same natural lighting on canvas.Īrtists no longer needed to depend on preexisting symbols and references to have their work valued as art, for it is grounded on itself, with all new meanings according to each artist. The works captured a precise moment, with that particular light. They were interested in representing the modern life and not depend on historical symbols and perfect refinement. He wanted to be accepted in the Salon, but the impressionist artists despised it. But these artists had different feelings about the Academy than Manet. Manet was an inspiration for the impressionist artists to come, like Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, Frédric Bazill – who was killed in the Franco-Prussian combat – and much more. A rupture was being taken place with the classic way of thinking art. Today this painting is considered to be a landmark for the beginning of the modern painting, but at the time was seen as shocking and outrageous. In 1863, Napoleon III founded the Salon des Refusés, an exhibition for the rejected artists from the Paris Salon, in which Édouard Manet was showing The Picnic. Main Menu > HELP > Requests and Commissionsįor over two centuries, European art was dictated by the Academy, following the Greco-Roman guidelines to making good art.

16th and 17th Century European Paintings.

Impression artwork