1. Impressionism (1865-1885) Characteristics
Captured fleeting effects of natural light
Chief Artists
Monet
Manet
Renoir
Pissarro
Cassatt
Morisot
Degas

2. Impressionism
Art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists
Capturing fleeting effects of natural light
Small, thin, yet visible brush strokes,
They portrayed overall visual effects instead of details
Not blended smoothly or shaded
Used vivid colors
General Overview Impressionism began in France when a group of young and talented artists decided to rebel against the established art critics, called the Salon in France, and form a new style of painting all their own. Impressionists wanted to capture a moment in time. Critics said that their work was merely "impressions" of reality and the name stuck. When was the Impressionist style of art popular? The Impressionist movement began in the 1860s and became most popular in the 1870s and 1880s. What are the characteristics of Impressionism? The Impressionists wanted to capture a moment in time. They were more concerned with the light and color of the moment than with the details of objects they were painting. They often painted outdoors and worked quickly to capture the light before it changed. They used rapid brush strokes and often used unmixed color to save time. They used unusual visual angles and common everyday subjects. Examples of Impressionist Art Famous Impressionist Artists Gustave Caillebotte - A French painter who was interested in photography and probably was the most "realist" of the Impressionist group. Caillebotte came from a wealthy family and helped out some of the poorer artists of the time.
Mary Cassatt - An American painter who lived much of her life in France, Mary became good friends with Degas. She often painted women and their children.
Edgar Degas - Degas is famous for painting pictures of ballet dancers. Unlike many of the other Impressionist artists, he would sketch his subjects live and then paint them later in his studio.
Edouard Manet - A realist painter for much of his career, Manet's artwork bridged between Realism and Impressionism and gave the Impressionists credibility.
Claude Monet - Arguably the founder of the Impressionist movement, Monet painted many series of objects in different lighting. It was his painting, Impression: Sunrise that gave birth to the name Impressionism.
Berthe Morisot - One of the original Impressionists, Berthe was the only woman to display her artwork in the first Impressionist exhibition.
Camille Pissarro - Older than the rest of the Impressionists, Pissarro helped to mentor and lead the younger artists. He displayed artwork in all eight of the Impressionist exhibitions.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Part of the original group of Impressionists, Renoir lived in poverty early on, but became successful by the end of the 1880s. Many of his paintings such as Dance at Le moulin de la Galette and On the Terrace have become world famous.
Interesting Facts about Impressionism When a critic called the art "impressions", it was meant as in insult.
The established art community was outraged when the young Impressionist artists held their own exhibition in 1874.
Many of the artists fled from France to England during the Franco-Prussian war.
Impressionists often painted the same view or subject over and over trying to capture different moments in light, color, and time.
By the late 1880's Impressionism was very popular and many artists throughout the world were taking up the style.
Impressionism
Impressionism is a style of painting that began in Paris, France in the mid-1800s. Unlike artists before them, the impressionists painted most of their paintings outdoors and liked to portray natural subjects like trees, fields, and oceans. Impressionists would often take their materials outdoors and paint what they saw. This is called painting “en plein air.” When impressionists painted pictures of people, they made them look like people you would see everyday. Rather than painting religious figures or royalty, impressionists painted people like the local tavern owner, a girl eagerly awaiting the beginning of a play, or workers resting in bales of hay. They often used their own family and friends as subjects in their paintings. Before the impressionists, painters usually placed the main subject of their painting in the center. It was the first thing the viewer looked at and the background was not nearly as important. Before the impressionists, the main focus was, more often than not, placed in the middle of the painting. Impressionists often put more emphasis on the scene than on the person or main subject of the painting. To do this, they painted the main subject off to the side rather than in the center of the painting. An impressionist painting looks more like a photograph in this way. A photograph captures not only the main subject, but everything around the subject and everything in the photo is important. Photography was just becoming popular in the mid-1800s and influenced the way the impressionists looked at things. The style was called impressionism because the artists were not as exacting about painting a realistic picture. They used many short brush strokes, applying paint thickly, to create the idea, or impression, of a subject. Vincent van Gogh is a good example of this technique. The paint on his canvases is often so thick it looks 3D. Look at this painting, Starry Night Over the Rhone, and notice the short brush strokes. Also, the painting is so thick that you can see the shadows from the paint. Because of the quick, short strokes, if you stand very close to an impressionist painting and look at it, often the painting won’t look like anything but a bunch of paint blobs. When you back away from it, though, you can see the whole picture. Another characteristic of impressionist painting is the study of light. The way light changed the shadows and colors of subjects was of much interest to impressionists. For example, Claude Monet often painted in series, making many pictures of the same subject at different times throughout the day and in different seasons to see how the lighting affected his paintings. Look at these paintings of the Rouen Cathedral and see how the lighting changed the colors Monet used.

3. Impressionism Oscar-Claude Monet
Founder of French Impressionist painting
Documenting the French countryside led him to adopt a method of painting the same scene many times in order to capture the changing of light and the passing of the seasons
Stacks of Wheat,
End of Summer
Stacks of Wheat,
Snow Effect
Stacks of Wheat,
Sun in the Mist
Claude Monet was born in Paris, France on November 14, He was the second child of Louise-Justine Aubry and Claude Adolphe Monet. In 1845, the Monet family settled near the ocean in Ingouville, France.
In 1851, Claude began attending school. He studied many subjects including art. When he was a young teenager it became apparent he had artistic ability. Claude would draw caricatures of his teachers on his schoolwork. By the time he was 15 he had developed a reputation as a caricature artist, and his caricatures were displayed in the window of a local frame maker's shop where people began to recognize their fellow villagers in the drawings. Claude soon began to charge people to draw their caricatures and was able to make a steady income.
Claude's mother died on January 28, The Monet family soon moved to Le Havre, France. A year later the young artist met landscape painter Eugene-Louis Boudin, a mentor who first introduced Claude to Plein Air (outdoor) painting. Claude was reluctant at first to leave the studio and the familiarity of indoor scenes. Eventually he joined Eugene, spending many hours painting directly from nature. The ocean particularly inspired Claude. He liked the way the light reflected off objects and the water.
In 1860 Monet was drafted into the military and sent to Algeria. During these years of service Monet did not paint at all. Upon his return to Paris he picked up where he left off and began painting again. Monet also met Camille Doncieux in Paris, and then married her in Camille modeled for many of his paintings.
Monet became known as an "Impressionist" - a title derived from his painting, "Impression, Sunrise ". The work has an unfinished look, which was very different from the paintings of artists who lived before him. The brush strokes were lively and spontaneous, capturing the feeling of the moment. He said, "Landscape is nothing but an impression, and an instantaneous one, hence this label that was given us, by the way because of me."
In his later works Monet continued to capture the affect of light. Sometimes he would paint the same object over and over again, but at different times of day or year. Examples of these works include his haystacks, morning views of the Seine, the Gare Saint-Lazare, Poplars, the Thames, Rouen Cathedral, and his celebrated series of water lilies.
Claude Monet died in Giverny, France on December 5, It took many years for people to appreciate his work. Today, the art of Monet is an inspiration to many artists around the world.
Claude Monet Lesson Resources

4. Impressionism Oscar-Claude Monet
Lived in Giverny, where he purchased a house and property, and began a vast landscaping project which included lily ponds that would become the subjects of his best known works
See how the lighting changes the colors that he would use to paint the same subjects?

5. Impressionism Édouard Manet
Pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism
His paintings mark the beginning of modern art
Common paintings: life, café scenes, war, social activities
The painting's juxtaposition of fully dressed men and a nude woman was controversial
Occupation: Painter
Born: January 23, 1832 in Paris, France
Died: April 30, 1883 in Paris, France
Famous works: Boating, The Fifer, The Luncheon on the Grass, Music in the Tuileries, The Races at Longchamp
Style/Period: Realism, Impressionism
Biography: Where did Edouard Manet grow up? Edouard Manet grew up in a wealthy family in Paris, France. He was born in Paris on January 23, His father wanted Edouard to become a lawyer, but he had no interest in the law and only wanted to work at being an artist. Edouard finally agreed to join the Navy as a compromise, but he soon left the Navy as a failure. Becoming a Painter When he turned eighteen, Edouard began to study art under the teaching of painter Thomas Couture. Over the next few years he also traveled to places like Florence, Rome, the Netherlands and Germany to study classical works of art. Part of his training was to copy the works of the masters. Coming from a wealthy family, Edouard didn't have to struggle to pay the bills like many of his fellow young artists. He often helped his friends out and was generous with his money. Realism Manet began his career painting in the style of realism. He wanted to be accepted by the Salon. This was the official art exhibition of France. He submitted the painting The Absinthe Drinker to the Salon, but was rejected. The painting was very different from what the conservative critics of the Salon expected from artists. It wasn't a grand scene of historical importance, but an everyday scene of a poor man drinking. The Absinthe Drinker (Click image to see larger version)
Later, another of his paintings called The Luncheon on the Grass, was again rejected by the Salon. Many people were upset and outraged by this painting. Manet became depressed over the rejections. He wanted to experiment and explore new styles of painting, but he also wanted to be accepted by the conservative Salon. Manet's Style Manet's style was to paint everyday people doing everyday activities. He took his inspiration from the streets of Paris. He painted beggars, singers, businessmen, and common people. He also used bold colors and broad brush strokes. His style took many people by surprise. Impressionism Manet became friends with a number of new artists called Impressionists including Claude Monet and Edgar Degas. Manet's paintings continued to become more impressionistic in style. He began painting outdoors and experimenting with light and different colors. Many of the Impressionist artists started their own exhibition apart from the Salon. Manet, however, still craved the approval of the traditional French art critics. Success Finally, in the 1870s, Manet's paintings began to receive critical acclaim. He had several paintings accepted by the Salon and even received a medal from the Salon in Café Scenes Manet enjoyed painting scenes from the cafes in Paris. He painted people doing a variety of things including drinking, just hanging around, dancing, and even reading. At the Cafe (Click image to see larger version)
Legacy Edouard Manet finally gained the critical acclaim he so craved near the end of his life. Today he is considered as one of the great French artists. He bridged the gap between Realism and Impressionism paving the way for a new style of art. Some art historians consider Manet to be one of the founding fathers of Modern Art. Interesting Facts about Edouard Manet He kept the love of his life secret from his father and then married her after his father died.
He once challenged a man who wrote an insulting article about him to a dual.
He painted around 420 paintings.
He once said that "insults are pouring down on me thick as hail".
Near the end of his life, his left leg became infected and had to be amputated.
As a child, Manet loved to go to the Louvre museum and admire the art.

6. The Absinthe Drinker
-Rejected at the Paris Salon

7. Impressionism Édouard Manet
Cafe scenes are observations of social life in 19th-century Paris. People are depicted drinking beer, listening to music, flirting, reading, or waiting

8. Impressionism Pierre-Auguste Renoir
French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style
As a celebrator of beauty, and especially feminine sensuality
Paintings are notable for their vibrant light and saturated colour, most often focusing on people in intimate and candid compositions
The female nude was one of his primary subjects
Pierre Auguste Renoir was born on February 25, 1841 in Limoges, France. He was the sixth of seven children born to Léonard Renoir and Marguerite Merlet.
Pierre's first experience with painting came in 1854 when he took his first job working in a porcelain factory painting designs on fine china. His talent for painting would have assured him a career as a porcelain painter, but the company went out of business four years later. During these years he enjoyed visiting the Louvre to see the works of the French masters.
In 1861, Renoir began attending the art studio of Swiss teacher Marc-Gabriel-Charles Gleyer. At the same time Renoir enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux. At the Gleyre's studio Renoir met other young artists, including Camile Pissarro ( ), Paul Cézanne ( ) and Claude Monet ( ). By 1863 the primary group of artists of the Impressionist Era was formed.
In 1869 Renoir and Claude Monet worked together to produce the first landscape paintings in the impressionist style. This new style sought to capture the effect of the light on their subject. Because they were painting outside, they painted with bright colors and quick brush strokes, capturing the essentials before the light changed.
In 1878, Renoir's Le Café, a painting of a young woman enjoying a cup of coffee, was accepted the Salon. In 1879 he showed four more works at the Salon, including Madame Charpentier and her Children, which was hung in a prominent place. Renoir had become friends with the Charpentier family, and in times of need they helped him financially. In return he painted portraits of their family. Madame Charpentier and Her Children became one of his most successful works.
Renoir married Alice Charigat at the age of 40. Together they had three sons, Pierre, Jean, and Claude.
Pierre August Renoir died in France on December 3, He was 78 years old. He painted even in the last years of his life, when he was bound to a wheel chair with arthritis severely limiting his movement. His vibrant and colorful paintings are among the most well known and most reproduced works in the history of art.

9. Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette
Dance at Le moulin de la Galette (Pierre-Auguste Renoir) This painting depicts an outdoor scene of a dance on Sunday afternoon in Paris. Renoir captures the afternoon light flickering as it filters through the trees. The painting captures a moment in time. It is one of the most famous of the Impressionist paintings. A smaller version of it once sold for over $78 million!
Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette

10. Two Sisters
Girl with a Hoop

11. Luncheon of the Boating Party
Renoir
Luncheon of the Boating Party

12. Impressionism Camille Pissarro
His importance resides in his contributions to both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism
Pissarro is the only artist to have shown his work at all eight Paris Impressionist exhibitions
Synopsis
Camille Pissarro was born on July 10, 1830, on the island of St. Thomas. Relocating to Paris as a young man, Pissarro began experimenting with art, eventually helping to shape the Impressionist movement with friends including Claude Monet and Edgar Degas. Pissarro was also active in Postimpressionist circles, continuing to paint until his death in Paris on November 13, 1903.
Contents
Early Life
Career
Later Life
Quotes
"It is absurd to look for perfection."
– Camille Pissarro
Jacob-Abraham-Camille Pissarro was born on July 10, 1830, on St. Thomas, in the Danish West Indies. His father was a French citizen of Portuguese Jewish descent, and his mother, who had previously been married to her new husband’s uncle, was Creole. The marriage was controversial, probably due to racial factors, and as a consequence the Pissarro children were compelled to attend the all-black local school rather than the Jewish school. At the age of 12, Pissarro left St. Thomas to attend boarding school in France. There, he developed an early appreciation of the French art masters. Although he initially pursued a career in business, Pissarro never stopped drawing and painting in his spare time.
In 1852 Pissarro moved to Venezuela with Danish artist Fritz Melbye and lived there until 1855, when he returned to Paris. In Paris, he worked closely with Camille Corot and Gustave Courbet, honing his skills and experimenting with new approaches to art. Pissarro eventually fell in with a group of young artists, including Claude Monet and Paul Cézanne, who shared his interests and questions. The work of these artists was not accepted by the French artistic establishment, which excluded non-traditional painting from the official Salon exhibitions. In 1871, Pissarro married Julie Vellay, with whom he would have seven children. They lived outside of Paris, where Pissarro painted scenes of village life and the natural world. Like many of his contemporaries, he preferred to work in the open air rather than the studio. The family moved to England during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. Returning to his home in France at the end of the war, Pissarro discovered that the majority of his existing body of work had been destroyed. Pissarro rebounded quickly from this setback. He soon reconnected with his artist friends, including Cézanne, Monet, Manet, Renoir and Degas. In 1873, Pissarro established a collective of 15 artists with the goal of offering an alternative to the Salon. The following year, the group held their first exhibition, dominated by a style that became known as Impressionism. The unconventional content and style represented in the show shocked critics and helped to define Impressionism as an artistic movement.
By the 1880s, Pissarro moved into a Postimpressionist period, returning to some of his earlier themes and exploring new techniques such as pointillism. He forged new friendships with artists including Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, and was an early admirer of Vincent van Gogh. While in keeping with his lifelong interest in innovation, Pissarro’s turning away from Impressionism contributed to the general decline of the movement, which he had influenced greatly.
In his later years, Pissarro suffered from a recurring eye infection that prevented him from working outdoors during much of the year. As a result of this disability, he often painted while looking out the window of a hotel room. Pissarro died in Paris on November 13, 1903, and is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery.

14. Impressionism Mary Cassatt
Cassatt often created images of the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the intimate bonds between mothers and children.
Mary Cassatt was born on May 22, 1844 in Allegheeny City, Pennsylvania. She was the fourth of five children born to Katherine Kelso Johnston and Robert Simpson Cassat who was a stockbroker and land speculator. During Mary's childhood, her family moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and then to the Philadelphia area. Her family viewed travel as an important part of her education. During the next 5 years she visited many of Europe's capitol cities, learned German and French, and received instruction in drawing and music.
Mary's first introduction to the great artists of France most likely occurred at the Paris World's Fair of Two of these artists, Degas and Pissarro, would later be her teachers.
At the age of 15 Mary enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Because no degree was offered, Mary decided to end her studies at the academy in 1866 and move to Paris. As women were not yet able to enroll in the École des Beaux-Arts, she asked to study privately with teachers from the school. She also made daily trips to the Louvre to copy art of the old masters.
In 1868, her A Mandoline Player, was accepted for showing at the Paris Salon. It was her first painting to be accepted. However, the art scene in France was changing with artists leaving the academy style and seeking a new way of painting. For Cassatt, who continued to work in the traditional style of the academy, it would mean a growing difficulty in getting works accepted.
In 1877 Cassatt was invited by Edgar Degas to show her artwork with the Impressionists. She admired Degas' and accepted his invitation with excitement. Her artistic style adopted a new spontaneity. Although she had been a studio painter to this point, she began to carry a sketchbook with her to record the things she saw.
In 1866 Cassatt's style changed again. She moved away from Impressionism to a simpler style of painting. She also began to exhibit her works in New York galleries. By the 1890s Cassatt's artistic career was at its busiest and most creative time. She also became a role model to young American artists.
Mary Cassatt died on June 14, 1926 at Château de Beaufresne, near Paris. She is remembered as a painter of scenes that reflected the intimate relationships of mothers and children. Her most successful works include, The Boating Party ( ), Summertime (c. 1894), and Little Girl in a Blue Armchair (1878). In 1904 she was awarded the Lègion d'honneur for her contributions to the arts.

15. Lydia Leaning On Her Arms In a Theater Box
This painting is an example of an Impressionist portrait. The quick and sweeping brush strokes capture the moment of the girl leaning forward in anticipation at the opera. The girl, Lydia, appears relaxed and confident. The colors are bright and capture the lighting prior to the show beginning.
Lydia Leaning On Her Arms In a Theater Box

16. Impressionism Berthe Morisot
Berthe Morisot married Manet's younger brother(also a painter)
The marriage provided her with social and financial stability while she continued to pursue her painting career. Able to dedicate herself wholly to her craft
Eide range of subjects—from landscapes and still lives to domestic scenes and portraits
Monday, August 18, 2008
Berthe Morisot
Berthe Morisot was born in 1841 to a wealthy government official. When Morisot was 11, her family moved to Paris. Because her father was important, and because the family had money, Morisot and her two sisters received proper education. They had tutors for many subjects including art.
Berthe Morisot and her sister Edma both showed artistic talent and decided to become painters. Though very few women became professional painters in the 1800s, the sisters were encouraged by their family. The young women painted side-by-side until Edma got married and decided to become a fulltime mother. Berthe Morisot showed her work at the Paris Salon each year for nine years. She met Manet. She posed for him and the two painters learned many things from each other. Morisot then made friends with several Impressionist painters and became an Impressionist herself. Morisot showed her work with the Impressionists until the final exhibition in She missed only one of the eight Impressionist exhibitions. When she was 33, Morisot married Edouard Manet’s brother, Eugene. They had a daughter, Julie, who became Morisot’s favorite subject to paint. After Eugene died, Julie and her mother painted side-by-side. Morisot died in Berthe Morisot, like Mary Cassatt, painted a lot of family scenes. Most of her paintings show women and children. She used quick brush strokes, in the Impressionist style, and preferred light colors. You won’t see black in Morisot’s paintings, though there are sometime touches of dark grey, dark blue, or dark green. The paintings above, in order, are The Cradle, Reading, and Lady at her Toilette.

17. Lady at her Toilette Woman at her Toilette by Berthe Morisot
In a swirl of delicate strokes, the 1875 painting Woman at her Toilette by Berthe Morisot evokes a fleeting and intimate glimpse of a woman arranging her hair at her dressing table mirror.
Woman at her Toilette features a nuanced range of icy pale tones of pink, blue, white, and silver. This painting is an example of Berthe Morisot's ephemeral approach.
Lady at her Toilette

19. Impressionism Edgar Degas
He is especially identified with the subject of dance; more than half of his works depict dancers
Masterly in depicting movement, as can be seen in his renditions of dancers, racecourse subjects and female nudes
At the beginning of his career, he wanted to be a history painter, a calling for which he was well prepared by his rigorous academic training and close study of classic art. In his early thirties, he changed course, and by bringing the traditional methods of a history painter to bear on contemporary subject matter, he became a classical painter of modern life.[
Edgar Degas was born in Paris France on July 19, 1834 to Célestine Musson De Gas and Augustin De Gas who was a banker. He was the oldest of five children. Degas began to paint as a young boy. By the time he turned eighteen, he had turned his bedroom into an artist's studio. Soon after that, he registered to be an art copyist at the Louvre museum in Paris.
In 1855, Degas met Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres whose art he respected very much. He never forgot his advice: "Draw lines, young man, and still more lines, both from life and from memory, and you will become a good artist." Later that same year Degas enrolled in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and studied drawing with Louis Lamothe who was a former student of Ingres.
Degas' Little Dancer of Fourteen Years, which he displayed at the sixth Impressionist exhibition in 1881 is one of his most famous works. It was also one of his most controversial. Some art critics thought it was "appalling ugliness" while others called it a "blossoming." He wanted to show his dancer at rest, in an unposed way. The young dance student that posed for Degas was Marie van Goethem. Though she never became a famous dancer, she always will be remembered.
By the end of his life, Degas was considered an important artist. He is known for his images of ballet dancers, romantic Paris night-life and horse races.
Edgar Degas died on September 17, 1917 in the city of his birth. His colorful paintings and sketches of everyday life crossed over the accepted ways of creating art. Once criticized for its "appalling ugliness", his art is now considered a collection of great beauty. Degas himself is now recognized as one of the greatest artists of the Impressionist Era.

20. How to Paint like Monet: Part 1

21. How to Paint like Monet: Part 2

22. How to Paint like Monet: Part 3

23. How to Paint like Monet: Part 4

24. Impressionism QUIZ What are the characteristics of impressionism?
What are the dates associated with impressionism?
Who are the chief artists of impressionism?
Where did this art movement originate?
Describe the painting technique used in impressionism.
In what setting did most impressionist artists paint (inside, outside)?
Why did Claude Monet paint the same picture several times and how were they different?
What objects were the main subjects of Monet’s best work?
How was Manet’s art treated at the Paris Salon?
What type of paintings did Renoir normally paint?
Pissaro’s artwork appeared where?
Cassatt is best known for painting what type of pictures?
Why was Morisot able to devote so much time to painting?
What subjects did Degas mostly paint?