Impressionists favored capturing ephemeral moments and the effects of light, often focusing on landscapes, leisure activities, and scenes of everyday life with a more vibrant palette and loose brushwork. In contrast, Realists concentrated on depicting the harsh realities of life, often highlighting the struggles of the working class and social issues in a more somber and detailed manner. While both movements sought authenticity, Impressionism embraced a more subjective and sensory approach, whereas Realism aimed for objective representation. This shift reflects a broader exploration of human experience beyond mere documentation.
The Impressionists differentiated themselves from the Realists by emphasizing the effects of light and color in their artwork, often painting en plein air (outdoors) to capture fleeting moments. While Realists focused on depicting everyday life with a commitment to accuracy and detail, Impressionists prioritized personal perception and the emotional response to a scene. This shift led to more loose brushwork and a focus on atmosphere rather than precise representation. Additionally, Impressionists often chose to depict modern life and leisure activities, breaking from traditional subject matter.
Though we primarily associate the revolutionary changes in painting that the French Impressionists helped bring about with their use of brilliant color and a multitude of short brushstrokes, their choice of subject matter was also part of a revolution. Convention at the time dictated idealized subject matter, but the Impressionists, along with realist painters who helped inspire them like Gustave Courbet and painters from the Barbizon School like Corot, made everyday modern life their subject. The painted from nature, finding subjects in the fields, forests and countryside around Paris, particularly the forest of Fontainebleu where the Barbizon Painters worked, as well as the streets of Paris. What look to us today like romantic scenes of another time were to the Impressionists the appearance of everyday life in the streets and countryside around them. They also found great inspiration in the rivers and streams in and around Paris, particularly the river Seine. Monet settled along the Seine in the town of Argenteuil, now a suburb of Paris, but in their time more of a country village. Many other Impressionists and painters from other parts of Europe and America went there to paint. The Impressionists, particularly Monet and Pissarro, would often paint the same subjects over and over in different light, seasons and weather.
The most major contribution of the Impressionists is the choice of subject matter. Before, a painting was 'supposed to be' of a grand theme, the Impressionists began to paint every day scenes of everyday people, peasants at work, people eating a meal and so on. The addition of painting outside and looking at what light was doing to a scene was also a very radical change. The accepted painters of the era were painting in the studio.
The Impressionists like to paint subjects that included light! Impressionism is the study of light on a subject. Monet is the best example of an impressionist that was concerned about light. En plein air which means "in the open air" or outdoors was a new way of painting and let the Impressionists play with light. Monet's pond lilies series is an great example of this. Degas was particularly fond of painting prostitutes and sometimes horses at the race track. Degas never painted En plein except to do sketches and then finish in his studio. Manet was famous for painting controversial figures, with his most famous being Olympia. of all of the Impressionists he often was the most controversial and painted many images of people. Mary Cassatt (An American) was famous for painting domestic pictures of women and children. Renoir also painted children and people as subjects. Although the Impressionist were concerned with everyday images of France, especially street scenes, they did not represent the dark side of France very well; the poor. The opinion of the day was "who want to put an ugly picture on the wall?" So by the time Van Gogh was painting (who really was partially Impressionist and most Expressionist) and he painted the "Potato Eater", this subject was considered vulgar. The Impressionists painted everything that had to do with light and movement.
The general public did not understand the Impressionists' art (Realism and Romanticism were popular). The art and the artists were subject to much ridicule. As a result, the artists could not find buyers, so money was a constant issue.
The Impressionists differentiated themselves from the Realists by emphasizing the effects of light and color in their artwork, often painting en plein air (outdoors) to capture fleeting moments. While Realists focused on depicting everyday life with a commitment to accuracy and detail, Impressionists prioritized personal perception and the emotional response to a scene. This shift led to more loose brushwork and a focus on atmosphere rather than precise representation. Additionally, Impressionists often chose to depict modern life and leisure activities, breaking from traditional subject matter.
Gustave Courbet was one of the foremost Realists of his time. Realism rejects the traditional and fictional subject matter of the past, arguing it is not real. Realists believe only subjects in ones own time, things visible are appropriate subject matter. In this way Realism is very modern, cut off from the past, and quite different from the realistic Romantic movement of the same time. Courbet's 'Burial at Ornans' (1849 10 x 22 feet, Louvre, Paris) depicts a provincial burial attended by average people 'of no importance'. The public considered such ordinary people as unsuitable for artistic representation, and juries rejected his work for the Paris International Exhibition of 1855. Looking at the above mentioned painting it is hard to see how it influenced the Impressionists, it is all about the subject matter, it is very 'new' and the Impressionists follow.
Impressionists revolutionized painting by emphasizing light and color over precise detail, often using loose brushwork to capture the fleeting effects of sunlight. They favored plein air painting, depicting everyday scenes and landscapes, which shifted focus from historical and mythological subjects to modern life. Their innovative use of complementary colors and unconventional compositions broke away from traditional artistic conventions, leading to a more dynamic and expressive visual language. This movement laid the groundwork for future modern art movements.
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All impressionists painted outdoors. That means mostly women with their children or landscaping.
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Impressionist paintings are characterized by their liberal application of color, visible brushstrokes, and emphasis on light. Unlike Academic art - the vogue aesthetic of the day in France - the Impressionists applied paint quickly with little concern for the finished, smooth quality of the composition. The Impressionists also deviated from the Academy's emphasis on grand history paintings, and instead depicted the mundane: landscapes, and scenes of everyday life in the city and countryside. The Impressionists were interested in capturing the appearance of nature at different times of day; thus, series of paintings of the same subject are not uncommon (such as Claude Monet's Waterlilies). Impressionists were not limited to landscapes and views of the city, however. Several of the Impressionists sought to capture the fleeting essence of beauty, movement, and motherhood - seen in the work of artists such as Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, and Mary Cassatt respectively.
Though we primarily associate the revolutionary changes in painting that the French Impressionists helped bring about with their use of brilliant color and a multitude of short brushstrokes, their choice of subject matter was also part of a revolution. Convention at the time dictated idealized subject matter, but the Impressionists, along with realist painters who helped inspire them like Gustave Courbet and painters from the Barbizon School like Corot, made everyday modern life their subject. The painted from nature, finding subjects in the fields, forests and countryside around Paris, particularly the forest of Fontainebleu where the Barbizon Painters worked, as well as the streets of Paris. What look to us today like romantic scenes of another time were to the Impressionists the appearance of everyday life in the streets and countryside around them. They also found great inspiration in the rivers and streams in and around Paris, particularly the river Seine. Monet settled along the Seine in the town of Argenteuil, now a suburb of Paris, but in their time more of a country village. Many other Impressionists and painters from other parts of Europe and America went there to paint. The Impressionists, particularly Monet and Pissarro, would often paint the same subjects over and over in different light, seasons and weather.
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