Five Facts About: Impressionism
5.9.
Impressionism is an art movement that originated in Paris around 1874. Some of the most famous impressionists include: Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, Édouard Manet and Edgar Degas, among others. The movement started when a group of various artists decided to create their own independent exhibition, which was ground-breaking at that time in Paris. There, artists had to be approved by a jury in the “official” annual state-sponsored exhibition, the Salon, to show work and earn some money. The process of getting approved was seldom easy.
1. The artists that decided to show their work in their own exhibition outside of the Salon called themselves the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Printmakers, etc.
They rented out a studio from the photographer Nadar and showed eight exhibits between 1874 and 1886.
2. Critics said the paintings looked unfinished and rather like impressions that would be used as a sketch or model to be used as an example for a more detailed work. This also gave the art movement its name: Impressionism.
He studied the old masters, but innovated the impressionist style to the public eye, which attracted other artists to join the movement.
MORE ART PRINTS FROM ÉDOUARD MANET…
4. The bright colours were breaking away from the norm of subdued, neutral colours in academic paintings at the time. The quick brushstrokes gave the style a spontaneous, “in the moment” aura.
5. Leisure activities, urban lifestyle and suburban landscapes were popular images painted by impressionists.
Like Pierre-Auguste Renoir‘s outdoor social gathering scenes, or Édouard Manet‘s beautiful boat leisure scenes.
