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Impressionism in the visual arts: characteristics, artists, famous pictures

Joachim Rodriguez y Romero
Joachim Rodriguez y Romero
Sun., April 20, 2025, 09:41 CEST

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Impressionism was created in France , which later spread in large parts of Europe in the 1990s.

Claude Monet , Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas had previously shaped him. Impressionism had a strong influence on subsequent art style directions and many artists remained loyal to him even during the time of Expressionism .

Discover the beauty of impressionism , a groundbreaking art movement, which can be seen by the representation of fleeting impressions and playing with light and colors.

  • Impressionism: a short introduction
  • Forerunner and pioneer
  • Details on the naming of Impressionism
  • Forming influences for the development of impressionism
  • The taboo break of the impressionists
  • Important exhibitions, groups and associations
  • Characteristics and characteristics - how do you recognize impressionist pictures?
    • Impressionism: bright colors
    • Loose brush stroke and spontaneous color application
    • Image composition and perspective
    • Motif selection and topics of impressionist painting
    • Japanese influences
    • Important representatives of French Impressionism
  • Impressionism and its different facets in Europe
    • Impressionism in Germany
    • The macchiaioli in Italy
    • Impressionism in Spain
    • Impressionism in Great Britain
    • Impressionism in Russia
  • The end of impressionism
  • What was left? The legacy of the impressionists
  • The best books and most beautiful illustrations about impressionism
    • "Impressionism: a world of color and light", by Norbert Wolf
    • "Impressionism: great masters of art", by Florian Heine
    • "Painting of Impressionism. 1860-1920", by Ingo F. Walther
    • "Impressionism" by Karin H. Grimme
    • "Impressionism: The Hasso Plattner Collection" by Ortrud Westheider

Artists such as Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot and Pierre-Auguste Renoir created  fascinating paintings style of the visual art that collected the beauty of everyday life and nature.

Mohnfeld (1873) by Claude Monet - masterpiece of Impressionism
Mohnfeld (1873) by Claude Monet - masterpiece of Impressionism

Impressionism: a short introduction

Impressionism was a revolutionary art movement of the 19th century that heralded a new era in painting. The impressionists not only wanted to map the external reality, but above all the impressions and moods that they felt when looking at a motif. Light and colors played a central role.

Impressionism as a concept of style has its origin in the French word "impression" , which means "impression". The naming of the art movement took place specifically through the painting "Impression - Soleil Levant" by Claude Monet, which was presented in 1874 at the first exhibition of the new current in Paris.

Oil painting reproductions: impression, sunrise from Claude Monet
Impression, sunrise from Claude Monet

At that time, an art critic mockingly used the title as a name for the entire style, but the artists took on the term for their movement. Impressionism is classified between 1860 and 1920.

The special thing about this art direction was that the artists began to consciously observe their perception . In parallel to the emergence of photography, the meticulous mapping of motifs no longer seemed significant.

They realized that the contours of objects are created by individual awareness. In fact, the eye mainly perceives colors and shapes - contours are only interpretations. The impressionists sought to return to "pure perception" and to present the reality in their genuine form.

The painters of impressionism were fascinated by the effect of light. In order to reproduce the natural light in their pictures, they developed a new painting style from small lines and points . This achieved a special lightness and dynamic in their paintings.

The impressionists mostly worked outdoors or in the studio to use the changing lighting. Some artists painted the same motif at different times of the day or seasons to capture the differences. To do this, they developed new color processing techniques to achieve softer contours

They realized that perception changes quickly at any moment and it is impossible to fully grasp a moment. That is why they used a quick painting style to capture their impressions before they were lost. The impressionists attached importance to pure observation without interpretation or construction.

With these priorities and characteristics, Impressionism became the starting point of the painting of modernity .

Typical motifs of their art were landscapes and tabloid scenes with elegantly dressed women as well as representations of dancers and women in the toilet. They often also recorded motifs from everyday life, such as from the Paris city life.

One of the best -known exhibitions of this time was the "third independent art exhibition" in Paris in 1877. There the works of the Impressionists were presented to the public for the first time. It was a step that revolutionized the art world and paved the way for the success of impressionism.

Auguste Rodin is considered a formative representative of impressionism in plastic and sculpture. sculptures, this art style is particularly characterized by a restless surface . In the field of photography, Impressionism is more known under the name of Pictorialism .

The pictorialists experimented with color photography for the first time and appreciated blurred shots. One of the most important photographers of Impressionism around 1900 was Heinrich Kühn (1866-1944), who was based in Vienna.

If you want to learn more about impressionism, just read on! In the following sections we dive deeper and will take a closer look at the characteristics, the artists and the best known works of impressionism.

Forerunner and pioneer

The romantic painters Eugène Delacroix , John Constable , William Turner and Richard Parkes Bonington as well as the artists of the School of Barbizon and the Honfleur painters were important forerunners of impressionism. Charles-François Daubigny was described as the leader of a "School of Impression" , although his composition schemes were still academic-classic. Nevertheless, he showed landscapes on the salon, which made him the forerunner of impressionism.

Already in the 18th century there was greater openness to landscape painting compared to France. This enthusiasm was probably influenced by the English landscape garden, which looked like a natural environment, and early industrialization.

Artists such as Constable, Turner and Richard Parkes Bonington sought in their works for a combination of scientific accuracy (see constable cloud studies) with atmosphere and atmosphere. In particular, the gradually dissolving motifs on color clouds in the paintings by William Turner stand for this idea. The painter's focus was on capturing the effect of the landscape and skillful and precise.

John Constable mainly worked in Suffolk and the surrounding area of ​​London. He was inspired by detailed realism, the fine color nuances, the brightness and and ramatic motifs of the Dutch landscape painting of the 17th century. Since the 1820s, his works have also been known in Paris, where he received the gold medal on the salon "hay car"

The painters of the Barbizon school, such as Camille Corot and Jean-François Daubigny, showed the forest of Barbizon in their landscapes, the rural life and animals. Jean-François Daubigny was particularly known for his sketchy mood landscapes.

Gustave Courbet dealt with forest and rocky landscapes on the Jura Mountains, uses oil paint as matter and influenced future impressionists. These in turn inspired baroque painters such as Frans neck and Diego Velázquez.

The Honfleur school on the Côte de Grâce mainly consisted of the artists Eugène Boudin and Johan Barthold Jongkind. Boudin lived a modest life in Honfleur and influenced Monet as the first teacher. Its paintings are characterized by beach and sea motifs and Corots admiration for their "meteorological beauties".

Details on the naming of Impressionism

Impressionism received its name - as indicated at the beginning - due to a devastating criticism by Louis Leroy during the first group exhibition of the painters, who was later known as "Impressionists" in 1874.

The artists had organized the exhibition in Nadar's Parisian studio themselves because they did not receive any approval for the salon. The initiative of the 30 exhibiting artists called them the "Société anonymous of the artist Peintres, sculpture, engraver" , which means so much as society independent artists.

The art critic Louis Leroy shaped the term impressionism by expanding the title of Claude Monet's work "Impression: Soleil Levant" (1872) into a group and style term.

The dominance of the term impressionism was favored not least by the fact that the artists themselves did not find their own names for their movement. The term "impression" describes the subjective perception of the world before rational processing of the sensory impressions begins. This definition was already established in aesthetic discourse.

In the 19th century, the term "impression" - as well as "Pochade" - was used to fleeting sketches that reproduce a first, immediate impression of the motif. In contrast, "Étude" a slower and more precise reproduction of the motif.

Monet transformed the sketch into a work of art by presenting it in exhibitions. The art critic Leroy regarded the sketchy work as a naive seeing that had not been brought into an orderly and rational form by the artist.

To date, the rumor is that impressionist paintings have arisen spontaneously.

As early as 1877, the critic Frédéric Chevalier aptly found that the impression of Spontaneität, created by the Impressionists, arose due to her boosted craftsmanship. The supposedly random perspective of her works is an expression of deliberately brought about.

Forming influences for the development of impressionism

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Most of the founding fathers of Impressionism were still in their twenties, with the exception of Pissarro, who was already in his thirties, and were particularly in the phase of stylish finding . Monet developed a special interest in the innovative painters Eugène Boudin and Johan Barthold Jongkind , who, with their color -intensive and structurally differentiated painting techniques, captured fleeting effects of sea and heaven.

Woman with a parasol on the beach, 1880 by Eugene Louis Boudin
Woman with a parasol on the beach, 1880 by Eugene Louis Boudin
Artwork as reproduction

Together with his studio fans at Gleyre, Monet Boudin's method took over to paint only outdoors - Pleinair painting (from French: en Plein Air: "outdoor";) - and to look at the actual scenery instead of completing a painting based on sketches in the studio. After Gleyre closed his studio in 1864, Monet, Renoir, Sisley and Bazille temporarily moved into the forest of Fontainebleau, where they devoted themselves to Pleinair painting.

The forest of Fontainebleau had previously attracted other artists, including Théodore Rousseau and Jean-François Millet, who emphasized that art the reality of everyday life against mirrors n.

Gleyre's studio and the students of the Académie Suisse were inspired by the renowned artist Édouard Manet , who himself followed the example of the realistic painter Gustave Courbet and presented modern topics objectively. In Manet's art, the traditional topic in favor of current events and conditions of his time moved into the background, while attention was paid to the conscious manipulation of color, sound and texture as an end in itself.

The Charente in Port-Bertaud 1862 by Gustave Courbet
The Charente in Port-Bertaud 1862 by Gustave Courbet
Artwork as reproduction

The motif became a medium for artistic compositions made of flat colored areas and precise brush strokes, with the perspective depth being minimalized. As a result, the focus was on the surface patterns and relationships of the painting instead of the illusory three -dimensional space.

Pissarro and the younger artists met around 1866 with Manet and Degas in Café Guerbois.

The taboo break of the impressionists

Not only the artistic technology, but also the choice of theme of the paintings was criticized. Suddenly realistic representations of life were presented, which seemed inaccurate and superficial to the citizens.

Some motifs were perceived as immoral and scandalous because they took up taboo topics, such as Edouard Manet's "Breakfast in the Green" from 1863. The impressionists met with little understanding of their painting style in art collectors and Parisian salons, which started organizing their own presentations.

Lunch on the lawn, 1863 (The Luncheon on the Grass, 1863)
Breakfast in the green of Édouard Manet, 1863
(The Luncheon on the Grass, 1863)

Gustave Courbet presented his works "Graves in Ornans" (1858) and "Das Atelier" (1863) in his own "Pavilion du Réisme" . Works by Manet, Whistler, Cézanne and Pissarro were also not recognized in the salon. When the jury accepted only a third of the 5000 submissions for the salon in 1863, this led to great excitement and compulsion of Emperor Napoleon III. to intervene.

Before the opening, he visited the exhibition and examined all rejected work. The emperor ordered that the "rejected" in the Palais de l'ustrie should receive their own exhibition: the salon of the Refusé [Salon of the dismissed]. However, many artists refused out of fear of rejection.

Napoleon III. mitigated the jury's judgment by allowed the exhibition of the rejected works. The jury chair, Count Nieuwerkerke, hung them up in the salon of the Refusé, in the hope of rejection by the audience. Around 40,000 visitors saw Edouard Manet's "Breakfast in the Green" and James McNeill Whistler's "Symphony in White, No. I: The White Girl" (1861), who both triggered scandals.

Symphony in Weiß, No. 1: The White Girl, 1862 by James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Symphony in Weiß, No. 1: The White Girl, 1862 by James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Artwork as reproduction

Although there was no further salon of the refusé, he sensitive the dominance of the salon and académie. In the following years, more and more artists merged into self -organized exhibition associations (e.g. Société des Artiste's Indépendants , founded in 1884 and significantly for neo -ancpressionism; Salon d'Automne , founded in 1903 and important for the first presentations of Fauvism and Cubism).

After several years, the impressionists found their success. In particular, the intellectual layers of the population appreciated and acquired impressionist works, which broadly widespread impressionism.

Important exhibitions, groups and associations

In the 1860s, the works of most avant-garde artists were included in the salon , the state-funded annual public exhibition in Paris. However, they were regularly rejected at the end of the decade. The artists recognized the injustice of the salon's jury system and the disadvantages that had smaller paintings like their own at salon exhibitions.

It was considered to organize its own exhibition, but the Franco-German War (1870–71) interrupted these plans. Frédéric Bazille , who led the efforts, was killed in the fight.

The talks were resumed at the end of 1873 and the Société anonymous Coopérative d'Artistes-Peintres, sculpture etc. founded. The members included Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Pissarro, Degas and Morisot, another avant-garde artist who was introduced to the group by Manet. The collective aimed to organize exhibitions, sell works of art and publish a magazine.

The Société Anonyms deliberately chose a name that did not indicate a specific art school. At their first exhibition in 1874, the members invited a large number of artists from their network. Although Manet decided not to participate, about 30 artists accepted the invitation, which led to a diverse presentation of different styles and media.

Some critics praised the group's efforts to stand out from the mainstream, but the majority was not convinced of art and wrote sharp reviews. Monet's painting "Impression, sunrise" from 1872 brought the group of "impressionists" the mocking addition of names, characterized by journalist Louis Leroy in the satire magazine Le Charivari in 1874.

Financially, the exhibition was unsuccessful and ultimately led to the dissolution of the Société Anonyms.

In the following years, some of the artists who founded the Société Anonyms between 1876 and 1886 organized seven other exhibitions . The participation varied, with some artists, including Cézanne and Guillaumin, fluctuated early. During the preparation of each exhibition, differences of opinion between the groups were used by the use of the term "impressionism" and the associated stylistic unity, which led to some particularly violent arguments in the last three exhibitions.

Over the years of the exhibitions, the participants further developed their own personal and individual styles, but they combine all the principles of freedom of technology, a personal instead of a conventional approach to topics and the accurate representation of nature.

The impressionists dissolved in the early 1880s when every artist increasingly pursued their own aesthetic interests and principles. Despite its short existence, the group led a revolution in art history and laid the technical foundation for artists such as Cézanne, Gauguin, Georges Seurat and Vincent van Gogh as well as the post -impressionist movement.

Impressionism later opened later artists in Western painting the opportunity to deviate from traditional techniques and approaches to the topics.

Characteristics and characteristics - how do you recognize impressionist pictures?

Typical for impressionism are compositions that are generated openly and easily by visible but delicate brush strokes. The accurate reproduction of light is given a special meaning in its changing qualities.

The impressionistic painting style makes nature understandable and capable, but not in the common naturalistic method, but with a technique that seems to dissolve contours.

Impressionism: bright colors

Impressionism was characterized by technical prerequisites such as synthetic colors that were kept in tin tube, portable relay staggering, previous canvases and parasols. The latter not only served to protect against sun rays, but also to maintain the colors of the colors.

The invention of synthetic colors made it possible for the painters to paint directly in nature. Impressionism was characterized above all by its bright, bright colors .

In Bois de Boulogne, around 1875-9 by Berthe Morisot
In Bois de Boulogne, around 1875-9 by Berthe Morisot

In contrast to realism and salon painting, dark colors were avoided. Instead, chrome yellow, orange and pink tones, green and ultramarine were used more often. The proportion of lead white that was used to brighten up the colors also increased.

Loose brush stroke and spontaneous color application

The way, as Impressionists painted, is unmistakable and can often be recognized by the brush management . Compared to the smooth and barely visible handling of the brushes in the paintings of romance and realism, Impressionists have used a looser and stronger brush stroke .

View of Mount Marseilleveyre and the Isle of Maire, C.1882-85 by Paul Cézanne
View of Mount Marseilleveyre and the Isle of Maire, C.1882-85 by Paul Cézanne

They often used shorter brush strokes and placed colors side by side with different shades.

The colors were mixed on the canvas as little as possible to use the simultaneous contrast and to make the colors appear more alive. Another means that the impressionist artists used to emphasize the liveliness of the colors was painting on a white canvas.

Image composition and perspective

In impressionism, the detailed definition of a painting was not in the foreground. Instead, the focus was on the loose and visible brush guide, which blurred the clarity of the forms.

The most important things could be distinguished from the less important elements, as was the case with realistic and romantic paintings. The impressionist painters also dispensed with the three -dimensional perspective and the representation of perfection and symmetry that were popular in previous epochs .

For the artists of Impressionism, the challenge was to present the world as it actually looks.

They recognized the beauty in the imperfections and current changes in the world around us.
In order to follow this approach, a new practice became popular among the painters of Impressionism: painting en Plein Air , i.e. outdoors at the scene.

Monet and other artists discovered that by painting within the natural environment, they could better capture a single, imperfect moment. So they were able to achieve an intimate recording of the world.

Motif selection and topics of impressionist painting

art form perceived as a revolutionary , impressionists was also a with modern life , as Charles Baudelaire once demanded.

Their range of topics included landscapes, figures, portraits and still lifes agreed in their painting style, but also in the rejection of historical or literary subjects The artists thus felt connected in a variety of ways.

In the winter garden of Édouard Manet
In the winter garden of Édouard Manet

Often it was leisure activities of the wealthy bourgeoisie , from which most impressionists and impressionists came, who served as motifs in their works.

The Boulevard Montmartre on a winter morning by Camille Jacob Pissarro
The Boulevard Montmartre on a winter morning by Camille Jacob Pissarro

These included amusement restaurants , opera houses (with dancers and the opera lodges), busy boulevards in Paris , sailing and row boats , as well as the summer freshness as much as land and sea .

Rowers row on the Yerres, 1877 by Gustave Caillebotte
Rowers row on the Yerres, 1877 by Gustave Caillebotte

Fashion, race spaces, gardens and parks also found in impressionist paintings.

The garden of Les Mathurins in Pontoise by Camille Jacob Pissarro
The garden of Les Mathurins in Pontoise by Camille Jacob Pissarro

Since it was considered improper for women of upscale society to hang out in cafés, the painters of impressionism mainly devoted themselves to the domestic world and female themes such as motherhood and portraits of family members .

In the dining room of Berthe Morisot
In the dining room of Berthe Morisot

Japanese influences

The content of impressionist paintings may not have been revolutionary, but the composition was always. The boundaries between the figures and the background blurred , which made the characters more as part of an overall picture than as the main motif.

The scenes looked as in a single moment - a snapshot - and not staged. This innovative approach coincided with the advent of photography and was inspired by Japanese Ukiyo -e art prints.

The Ukiyo-E style used perspective shortening and asymmetry to cause movement and action in one scene. For the impressionist artists, this technique from the east became a decisive tool in the discovery of a new, modern painting style.

The dance class, 1874. By Edgar Degas
The dance class, 1874. By Edgar Degas

Important representatives of French Impressionism

  • Frédéric Bazille (1841–1870)
  • Eugène Boudin (1824-1898)
  • Marie Bracquemond (1840-1916)
  • Louis Édouard Joseph Braquaval (1854-1919)
  • Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894)
  • Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
  • Edgar Degas (1834-1917)
  • Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)
  • Eva Gonzalès (1847-1883)
  • Armand Guillaumin (1841–1927)
  • Édouard Manet (1832–1883)
  • Maxim Maufra (1861–1918)
  • Claude Monet (1840–1926)
  • Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)
  • Camille Pissarro (1830–1903)
  • Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
  • Alfred Sisley (1839-1899)

Impressionism and its different facets in Europe

Impressionism in Germany

The landscape view and painting technology by Max Liebermann , Lovis Corinth and Max Slevogt are closely linked to the late and heterogeneous theories of Impressionism. It is particularly striking that Max Liebermann considered the foundations of impressionism in connection with Diego Velázquez and Frans neck as "classical" and deliberately did not see himself as revolutionary.

The search for an artistically appropriate form for what is perceived by Max Slevogt is considered the origin of German Impressionism, which means that he has stood in the romantic tradition since Caspar David Friedrich. Similar to this preferred, Slevogt also gained extensive views of his surroundings. Like Max Liebermann and Lovis Corinth, Slevogt also believed that German Impressionism is not the visible but the inner world of the artist.

Sailing boats on the Alster in the evening (1905) by Max Slevogt
Sailing boats on the Alster in the evening (1905) by Max Slevogt

Therefore, Slevogt's landscape pictures can also be described as impressionism with a "romantic drive" , neither dreamy nor sentimental. For Slevogt, the further development of impressionism was at least "created", although the introduction to his exhibition catalog in some places reads more like a defense against Expressionism and this attitude is also largely responsible for this.

Significant impressionists from Germany:

  • Otto Antoine (1865-1951)
  • Wilhelm Claudius (1854-1942)
  • Lovis Corinth (1858-1925)
  • Hans Dieter (1881–1968)
  • Louis Eysen (1843-1899)
  • Philipp Franck (1860-1944)
  • Theodor Hagen (1842-1919)
  • Paul Klimsch (1868-1917)
  • Gotthardt Kuehl (1850-1915)
  • Max Liebermann (1847–1935)
  • Ernst Oppler (1867–1929)
  • Richard Pietzsch (1872-1960)
  • Hermann Pleuer (1863-1911)
  • Leo Putz (1869-1940)
  • Max Slevogt (1868-1932)
  • Erwin Starker (1872-1938)
  • Robert Starlin (1867–1936)
  • Robert Sterl (1867-1932)
  • Wilhelm Trübner (1851–1917)
  • Karl Walther (1905-1981)

The macchiaioli in Italy

The Macchiaioli were a group of Italian artists who settled in Tuscany in the second half of the 19th century. Already active over ten years before the French Impressionists, they were influenced by various 19th century painters such as Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet and the Barbizon School.

They were particularly inspired while visiting in Paris, especially at the world exhibition from 1855. Her work includes combat scenes from the Risorgimento, military motifs as well as landscapes and scenes from farming and bourgeois life.

The most known are their small, sketchy paintings, which brought them nickname (the "Macchia" refers to sketchy color compositions). "La Rotonda dei Bagni Palmieri" is an example of this painting .

The rotunda near Palmieri, 1866 by Giovanni Fattori
The rotunda near Palmieri, 1866 by Giovanni Fattori

Significant impressionists from Italy:

  • Giuseppe Abbati (1836-1868)
  • Odoardo Borrani (1833-1905)
  • Guglielmo Ciardi (1842-1917)
  • Giovanni Fattori (1825-1908)
  • Pietro Fragiacomo (1856-1922)
  • Eugenio Gignous (1850–1906)
  • Silvestro Lega (1826-1895)
  • Giuseppe de Nittis (1846-1884)
  • Andrea Pavanello (1842-1906)
  • Daniele Ranzoni (1843-1889)
  • Raffaello Sernesi (1838-1866)
  • Telemaco Signorini (1835-1901)

Impressionism in Spain

Impressionism on the Iberian Peninsula was imported from France as an artistic current and mirrors also resembled around 1880, but in particular from 1900, in Spain. Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923) from Valencia His works are characterized by their coastal scenes flooded with light, which have captured the spontaneous moments of leisure activities.

On the coast of Valencia by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida
On the coast of Valencia by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida

But not only Sorolla, but also artists such as Eliseo Meifren y Priog , Santiago Rusigñol y Prat and Joaquín Mir Trixet contributed significantly to the fascination for Spanish Impressionism with their garden and genre pictures. The variety of styles and motifs within this movement mirrors t resist the artistic liveliness and creativity of this era.

Significant impressionists from Spain:

  • Aureliano de Beruete (1845-1912)
  • Francisco Domingo (1842–1920)
  • Marià Fortuny (1838-1874)
  • Francisco Gieno Arasa (1858-1927)
  • Carlos de Haes (1826-1898)
  • Joaquim Mir (1873-1940)
  • Ignacio Pinazo (1849-1916)
  • Dario de Regoyos Valdes (1857-1913)
  • Martín Rico y Ortega (1833-1908)
  • Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923)

Impressionism in Great Britain

The close connection between French artists and those lived in the UK played a crucial role in the spread of French impressionism beyond the English Canal. James McNeill Whistler and John Singer Sargent are particularly worth mentioning here . Their influences were formative for the development of British Impressionism.

Fishing for oysters at Cancale (1878) by John Singer Sargent
Fishing for oysters at Cancale (1878) by John Singer Sargent

A pioneer in this area was the painter Walter Sickert , who first visited Degas' studio in 1883 and thus received important impulses. The foundation of the New English Art Club in 1885, with the participation of John Singer Sargent, Stanhope Forbes and Thomas Cooper Gotch, offered a platform for artists such as Sickert, Philip Wilson Steer, Frederick Brown, Theodore Roussel and Bernhard Sickert to present their works to a broader audience.

However, a controversy about the orientation of the NEAC led to the “London Impressionists” escaped from the group and instead presented themselves in a separate exhibition in the Goupil Gallery . These developments contributed significantly to the establishment and recognition of British Impressionism.

Significant impressionists from Great Britain:

  • George Clausen (1852-1944)
  • Wynford Dewhurst (1864-1941)
  • Augustus Edwin John (1878-1961)
  • Henry Herbert La Thangue (1859-1926)
  • John Lavery (1856-1941)
  • William Orpen (1878-1931)
  • William Mactaggart (1835-1910)
  • Philip Wilson Steer (1860-1942)
  • James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

Impressionism in Russia

Impressionism in Russia is associated with a variety of talented artists, including famous names such as Ilja Repin, Isaak Lewitan , as well as Valentin Serow and Konstantin Korowin . It was from the 1880s when Russian artists who were expanded by trips to Western Europe, especially to Italy and France - including Paris - were increasingly fascinated by the influences of impressionism.

Le Moulin Rouge - By Konstantin Alexejewitsch Korowin (1861-1939). Oil on the box
Le Moulin Rouge-by Konstantin Alexejewitsch Korowin (1861-1939). Oil on the box

This new artistic current was characterized by a striking color application and the use of brighter colors. In contrast to other countries, impressionism in Russia was only one of several possible styles around 1900. The tradition of historical and genre painting with a realistic-symbolistic approach and a lyrical representation of landscapes continued to be maintained.

From the 1890s in particular, however, a passionate preference for sun -drenched, rural landscapes developed in Russia, which were supposed to contribute to strengthening and consolidating national identity.

Significant impressionists from Russia:

  • Lew Samoilowitsch Bakst (1866-1924)
  • Alexander Nikolajewitsch Benua (1870-1960)
  • Konstantin Iwanowitsch Gorbatoff (1876-1945)
  • Igor Emmanuilowitsch Grabar (1871–1960)
  • Konstantin Alexejewitsch Korowin (1861–1939)
  • Isaak Iljitsch Lewitan (1860-1910)
  • Vladimir Jegorowitsch Makowski (1846-1920)
  • Wassili Grigorjewitsch Perow (1834-1882)
  • Wassili dmitrijewitsch Polenow (1844-1927)
  • Illarion Mikhailowitsch Prjanischnikow (1840-1894)
  • Walentin Alexandrowitsch Serow (1865-1911)
  • Konstantin Andrejewitsch Somow (1869-1939)
  • Wassili Wassiljewitsch Werschagin (1842-1904)
  • Sergei Arsenjewitsch Winogradow (1869–1938)

The end of impressionism

Over time, the impressionists strived for a permanent value, the artists such as Renoir, Cézanne and the representatives of pointillism achieved this with different techniques. This became clear in 1886 at the eighth Impressionist exhibition.

Paul Cézanne retreated to the south of France and devoted himself to Montaigne Sainte-Victoire Mountain as well as more and more abstract paint stains. Pierre-Auguste Renoir also expressed doubts about impressionism because he had had enough of emulating the fleeting moment. He longed for an art with a lasting and eternal character, which could be presented again in the museums.

Inspired by Italian old masters and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Renoir reflected this influence in his paintings in the style of classicism from 1887. The further development of impressionism was with Claude Monet, who began to paint series of works in 1876.

His first work of this kind-the painting of the St. Lazare train station in Paris-presented in 1877 at the third Impressionist exhibition. In the 1880s he made many trips and continued to develop the concept of the series painting, which he demonstrated in Giverny in the early 1890s and based on his pictures of the facade of the Rouen Cathedral.

What was left? The legacy of the impressionists

In the western world, reactions, criticism and reinterpretations of impressionism have significantly influenced many modern art movements. The ethos of impressionism not only shaped the visual art, but also influenced music and literature.

In music, tests were made to create atmospheres or moods, which was particularly popular in France in the late 19th century. French writers and poets have in turn reflected impressionism through syntactic variations and fragmentary prose.

Today works are extremely popular on the art market because they enjoy great interest from private collectors and public institutions. Sotheby’s, for example, sold Monets Meules for $ 110.8 million in 2019 and thus set a new record for the artist. In the same year, retrospectives with works by Berthe Morisot, a leading impressionist, took place in the Paris Musée d'Orsay.

Impressionist works can be admired in numerous renowned public institutions worldwide, including in the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, in the National Gallery in London, in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and in St. Petersburg.

The best books and most beautiful illustrations about impressionism

With this article we tried to give Art Movement Perhaps you would now like to find out more or need additional information and details for school, studies or research.

Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of impressionist art by browsing in selected books and illustrated books, some of which we have used as sources and reference.

"Impressionism: a world of color and light", by Norbert Wolf

"Impressionism: a world of color and light" by Norbert Wolf
"Impressionism: a world of color and light" by Norbert Wolf

This opulently designed, large illustrated book provides a comprehensive insight into the world of impressionism and its influence on art and culture.

Norbert Wolf's work explains why Impressionism is considered a pioneer of modernity and why he still moves numerous fascinated visitors to the museums worldwide today. The author illuminates historical forerunners, contemporary criticism and subsequent currents across Europe. Connections to other art forms such as photography, music and literature are made. This richly illustrated band is an indispensable compendium for art lovers and connoisseurs alike.

Directly to the book

"Impressionism: great masters of art", by Florian Heine

"Impressionism: Great Master of Art", by Florian Heine
"Impressionism: great masters of art", by Florian Heine

This richly illustrated band portrays the achievements of the impressionist movement in a handy and attractive format. It offers a variety of pictures and information about the leading artists of that time, shows their creative development in dealing with light and space and illuminates the influence of new scientific discoveries on their art.

With generous illustrations, the book presents works by Manet, Monet, Renoir and other important impressionists, with biographical details and historical context.

Directly to the book

"Painting of Impressionism. 1860-1920", by Ingo F. Walther

"Painting of Impressionism. 1860-1920", by Ingo F. Walther
"Painting of Impressionism. 1860-1920", by Ingo F. Walther

Although Impressionism is widespread as an art direction and has produced numerous works, there are still many facets that have not yet been extensively researched. This book is dedicated to these undiscovered areas and focuses on neglected artists such as Berthe Morisot, Lucien Pissarro and Gustave Caillebotte.

In addition, it throws a light on impressionist painting outside the borders of France to enable a comprehensive view of this art genre. With well -founded analyzes and new knowledge, this work includes an important gap in the research of Impressionism and invites the reader to discover the diversity and beauty of this art movement in a completely new way.

Directly to the book

"Impressionism" by Karin H. Grimme

"Impressionism" by Karin H. Grimme (Pocket Verlag)
"Impressionism" by Karin H. Grimme (Pocket Verlag)

This captivating insight into the world of impressionism allows us to immerse ourselves in the masterpieces of some of the most important artists of their time. In addition to the world -famous representatives such as Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Berthe Morisot and Camille Pissarro, less well -known but also talented artists are also in the spotlight.

Personalities such as Marie Bracquemond, Medardo Rosso and Fritz von Uhde deserve undoubtedly deserving to be recognized for their work.

Since its introduction in 1985, the Basic Art Series has developed into an indispensable source for art lovers and buyers worldwide. With outstanding content and a wide range of artists, she has established herself as the best -selling art book series of all time.

Directly to the book

"Impressionism: The Hasso Plattner Collection" by Ortrud Westheider

Impressionism: The Hasso Plattner collection, by Ortrud Westheider (Museum Barberini)
Impressionism: The Hasso Plattner collection, by Ortrud Westheider (Museum Barberini)

There is no comparable collection that can present impressionist landscape painting as comprehensively and in its development and iconography as convincingly as that of Hasso Plattner in recent decades. The more than 100 paintings are now permanently exhibited in the Barberini Museum he founded in Potsdam.

Using this collection, Ortrud Westheider, the director of the Museum Barberini, leads through the history of French Impressionism.

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Owner and managing director of Kunstplaza . Publicist, editor and passionate blogger in the field of art, design and creativity since 2011.
Joachim Rodriguez y Romero

Owner and managing director of Kunstplaza . Publicist, editor and passionate blogger in the field of art, design and creativity since 2011. Successful conclusion in web design as part of a university degree (2008). Further development of creativity techniques through courses in free drawing, expression painting and theatre/acting. Profound knowledge of the art market through many years of journalistic research and numerous collaborations with actors/institutions from art and culture.

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Art Periods And Movements

In art, artists and works of art are classified in styles . These are based on common characteristic features of the works of art and cultural products of a age.

The division into epochs serves as a tool for structuring and classification of works and artists into a temporal framework and a cultural history.

The most important Art Periods And Movements include, for example antiquity , romance, Gothic , Renaissance , Baroque , Biedermeier, Impressionism , Expressionism , Art Nouveau and Pop Art ...

The knowledge of Art Periods And Movements plays a major role, especially in art trade as well as in art theory and classic image analysis.

In this section of the art blog, we would like to help you a better understanding of these eras, styles and currents.

Art styles and styles

The art style or the style in works of art describes the uniform expression of the works of art and cultural products from an age, an artist or an artist group, an art direction or art school.

It is a tool for classification and systematization of the variety of art. He denotes unanimous things that differ from others.

The term is thematically related to Art Movement , but is not only to be seen in a temporal framework and therefore far more comprehensive.

In this section we would like to help you a better understanding of styles and currents in art.

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