What is impressionism? - artistic movement

The Impressionist movement officially took place between 1874 and 1886, the period during which the first and last Impressionist exhibitions took place. A total of eight exhibitions were held. The first was hosted by the photographer Nadar on Boulevard des Capucines in Paris. They brought together artists such as Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Gustave Caillebotte, Frédéric Bazille, Paul Cézanne, and Berthe Morisot. Claude Monet is recognized as the leader of this movement. On the occasion of the first Impressionist exhibition of this movement, art critic Louis Leroy, upon seeing a painting by Claude Monet, named it Impression, Sunrise. 

This work marks the beginning of Impressionism. A contrast of warm and cool colors in an almost binary manner, between the sun and its reflection and the rest in shades of blue-gray.  The painting introduces the idea of complementary colors developed in 1839 by the theorist Michel-Eugène Chevreul. 

Outdoors 

At the end of the 1830s, the invention of industrial paint tubes freed painters from their studios. Artists could now move outdoors and practice open-air painting. In this dynamic, the Barbizon School emerged in the 1830s and 1840s.

The artists Camille Corot (1796-1875) and Charles-François Daubigny (1817-1878) were connected to the Barbizon School while painting in other locations around the Oise. Daubigny was so interested in landscapes and the reflection of water that he set up a studio on a boat. Monet copied him some time later.

Manet is often referred to as the father of Impressionism. However, he never claimed to be such and never participated in exhibitions. Edouard Manet was part of the generation under Eugène Delacroix's wing, whose paintings he reproduced to educate himself. This generation, represented in Homage to Delacroix, would pave the way for Impressionism. 

Seated from left to right: Louis Edmond Duranty, Fantin-Latour, Champfleury, Charles Baudelaire, and standing from left to right: Louis Cordier, Alphonse Legros, James Whister, Edouard Manet, Félix Bracquemond, Albert de Balleroy

Adepts of Modernity 

The Impressionists were inspired by vaporous painting, where the manipulation of light was paramount, as well as by a taste for modernity. The Industrial Revolution was a popular playground for these artists, such as Claude Monet himself with The Gare Saint-Lazare, Arrival of a Train. 

Zola describes train stations as new “cathedrals of glass and steel.” Glass and steel were new materials born of the Industrial Revolution. Turner had already depicted iron and the power of trains.

In the work of Monet and Turner, the horizon disappears beneath the steam of the machine.

Furthermore, in the 1860s, Haussmann's major redevelopment of Paris was a central concern. Gustave Caillebotte is seen as a chronicler of the urban world for his taste for depicting Haussmann's Paris. 

Variations of Atmosphere 

Alfred Sisley's work, halfway between city and landscape, explores atmospheric variations. He depicts specific subjects, such as a flood in this case, which is an innovative element.

Claude Monet introduced another novel characteristic: serial painting. Indeed, he illustrated Rouen Cathedral nearly thirty times from the same perspective. The cathedral was no longer a subject for the painter. He sought to capture the changing weather patterns and adapted the framing to his studies. This raised the question of the subject's place in the work. The subject gradually disappeared among the Impressionists, as it did in the Post-Impressionist movements. 

A Happy Life and a Hidden Side 

Pierre-Auguste Renoir is known for his depictions of happy people at the Moulin de la Galette. His paintings reflect a serene and gentle environment.

The fragmented brushstrokes used to depict the movement of the water are one of the great characteristics of Impressionism. The shadows are colorful. 

Edgar Degas preferred to depict the hidden side of the world. He drew inspiration from caricaturists of the time, such as Honoré Daumier, by depicting not the spectacle but the musicians at the opera. Here, he chose to depict a young woman, alone with a glass of absinthe. A young woman of the aristocracy could not be seen in such a situation. He depicts those we do not usually see.

A Before and After 1886 

The eighth and final Impressionist exhibition took place from May 15 to June 15, 1886. Camille Pissarro introduced two figures who would become major figures in Post-Impressionism, everything after 1886: Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. Both experiment with and surpass the innovative discoveries of their predecessors. The vivid colors and fragmented brushstrokes herald the arrival of pointillism and Fauvism. 

Take advantage of the summer to (re)discover the great artistic movements on Museum TV. Every evening in July and August, immerse yourself in the world of your favorite artists.

Join us on Saturday, from 6pm on Museum TV and on replay on our video-on-demand platform, so that Impressionism and Fauvism no longer hold any secrets for you!