Styles and Movements of the Impressionist Act
Styles and Movements of the Impressionist Act
"The Impressionists were subjective painters, who looked at nature in their own individual ways. The results were, hardly surprisingly, very different, when we consider the divergent styles of say Monet, Degas, Renoir, Gauguin, and Seurat. Perhaps the greatest achievement of Impressionism was to capture the effect of real sunlight on canvas. It is possibly this that made their pictures the most popular, and the most expensive, of the 20th century."
Impressionism began in the late 1800s in France. It is characterised by depicting objects and scenery naturally, making detail of their light and colour. Impressionists made their paintings look like a first impression (this was first noted in a painting by Claude Monet, titled Impression: Sunrise), and were critized for it. Their works were said to appear incomplete. Each of these artists opposed the traditional, dry style of painting. Although some people appreciated the new paintings, many did not. The critics and the public agreed the Impressionists couldn’t draw and their colours were considered vulgar. Their compositions were strange. Their short, slapdash brushstrokes made their paintings practically illegible. That made viewers wondered why they didn’t considered finishing their artwork.
Impressionism broke every rule of the French Academy of Fine Arts, the conservative school that had dominated art training and taste since 1648. Impressionist scenes of modern urban and country life were a far cry from the Academic efforts to teach moral lessons through historic, mythological, and Biblical themes. This tradition featured idealised images. Symmetrical compositions, hard outlines, and meticulously smooth paint surfaces intending to hide all traces of the artist’s brushwork characterised academic paintings.
Works of the Impressionists submitted to the Academy were rejected. The art works of the Impressionists were considered to be shocking, unfinished and insulting. The Impressionists were frustrated. To them, traditional painting seemed outdated and irrelevant. Disappointed by the lack of encouragement from the Academy, they decided to proceed on their own. In 1874, the impressionist got together and mounted their own exhibition. Claude Monet, Pierre-Aguste Renoir, Berthe Morisot, Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degas and Alfred Sisley were all part of this group. The exhibit itself was not a success but it was the first independent group show of the Impressionist art.
The Impressionists, or "Independents," as they preferred to be called, brought together a wide variety of these influences, beliefs, and styles when...