The movement of Impressionism (1867-1886) changed conventional academic artistic practices and transitioned the world into an era of Modern Art. Born from the vision of founders Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and Frederic Bazille, Impressionism was created from the inspiration that traditional life had an untraditional facet as seen through the artists eye. Preceding and during the Impressionism era, the Academie des Beaux Arts set rigid standards for French Art. This control was thoroughly established and transcended into the Salons of Paris, which could establish the success or failure of an artist who exhibited there.
Historical compositions dominated the Salons at the time and were widely accepted by the public. At the arrival of the Impressionism movement, France had endured a degrading defeat in 1871 at the close of the Franco-Prussian War. The population of France found comfort in the traditional art of their past (Hermus Fine Arts: Art Movements). Impressionists held a degree of contempt for religious or historical subjects. They found more reality in scenes of contemporary life. Societal response to some of the first exhibits penned the phrase for the movement.
The term Impressionism was first used in 1874 by Louis Leroy, a journalist for the magazine Le Charivari, and was meant to be a cutting remark (The Masters). Critics everywhere repeatedly wrote negative responses to the showings of the art. It was believed to be unfinished and child-like with the short rapid strokes and lack of defining lines. Critics believed the uncompromising nature of the motifs and how they were painted should be considered brutal and nauseating. The critics further scrutinized these artists by the selection of their themes.
The subjects that they chose were considered unworthy and unsuitable for fine art, since they focused on more ephemeral and seemingly trivial aspects of the modern world, rather than creating scenes of natural beauty or moral significance (British Broadcasting Company: Arts). Although the Impressionism movement saw little societal support, the artists of this movement were sustained by the Industrial Revolution. The invention of tub paints, oil based paints in tubes, allowed artists to create their visions as they choose to experience them en plein-air.
An additional modern development, photography, gave Impressionists a goal to capture an image that the camera could not. In its early life, photography was primarily done in a studio. Cameras were large and cumbersome and required long exposures to capture the image. This technological advancement did little to change the effects of art. Subjects were required to sit for long periods of time and again kept to traditional aspects by artists before the Impressionism movement. Impressionism did not see support for its foresight of innovation until the development of portable cameras.
With the development of portable cameras, photographers were able to explore the unexpected angle or an ingenuous subject. Like Impressionism, photography was proving that in actual life we focus on one spot within the entire composition (Gombrich 523-524). Impressionists abandoned the concept of creating or finishing their works within the studio. They believed that to capture a motif as it is experienced, an artist should paint before the subject. It was this perception that lead to the discovery of the basis of the style.
It was believed that color was not the property of an object itself, but the moment of perception of the light coming from the object. Thus, the color was constantly changing throughout the day. The position of the sun and the density of the atmosphere were what controlled the qualities of color. Impressionist artists also discovered that in contrast to traditional style, shadows held a certain grade of color. They realized that black was a total absence of color. Though shadows were darker than surrounding colors, shadows still consisted of some degree of color.
As a consequence of this black was removed from the artists palette (Hermus Fine Arts: Art Movements). In addition to the consciousness of color and light within the Impressionist movement, artists accepted that to capture the first impression of an image they needed to focus on the instantaneity of the scene. It was this urgency in capturing a characteristic aspect that fashioned the canvas into a flurry of rapid strokes of color. Lack of complete detail was a deliberate intention of the artist, thus permitted the focus of the whole work to be finished in the mind of the observer.
The aim of the artists was not to render the scene as it was observed but to produce a sensation the scene delivered (Gombrich 522). Believed to be the father (although he never exhibited with Impressionists) of the Impressionist movement, Edouard Manet (1832-1883) outwardly opposed the Salons preferred style of art. He was favored among the young artists of the Impressionist movement due to the reality in his works. Influenced by Velazquez, Manet created works that relied on imagination to supplement what the artist had left out (Gombrich 411).
One of the younger artists and attributed to being the founder of the Impressionist movement was Claude Monet (1840-1926). In his early childhood, Monet struggled against discipline and formal education. In his autobiography (Claude Monet by Himself, 1900), he expressed that much to the disappointment of his father he continued a very irregular but healthy way of life. He would frequently ornament his text books with irreverent impressions of his schoolmasters. These caricatures became popular in Le Havre (Monets childhood home) and he was commissioned twenty francs for each creation.
Monets caricatures were on display in the window of a framers shop. It was then that he had the opportunity to see his work exhibited. It was his aversion of another artists work (Eugene Boudin 1824-1897 ) often displayed with his caricatures that mentored Monet into the style he is accredited with (Claude Monet by Himself). During the 1860s, Monet began using ideas that would later become his trademark. He deserted the studio and painted more outdoors with fellow artist Auguste Renoir. Collaboration between Monet and Renoir built the principles of the style over time.
However, it would not be for almost a decade later that these founding artists would exhibit their work for the first time in 1874. It was partially due to Monets work, Impression: Sunrise (1872) that led to the groups naming. Impression: Sunrise was one of the first works to illustrate the deliberate brush strokes in creating an overall effect that the painting was created on the spot. The creation of themes through dispassionate objectivity was the essence behind all the Impressionists artists.
From Monet, who painted dramatic effects of light and weather along the coasts of France; Pissaro focused his attention on rural scenes and peasant subjects; Renoir painted scenes of bathing women in timeless and natural settings; and Degas focused more on pictures of subjects in obscure angles. Although each Impressionist artist chose different focal points for their style, they aimed their paintings to convey the immediate visual effect of the world around them. The concentration of their technique was the use of contrasting colors to express the elements of light and shadow.
It was not until the 1880s that Impressionists reputation spread in a positive fashion and these early founders were now influencing the younger artists. Although short lived, the era of Impressionism became a legend as well as the foundation to Modern Art. The ongoing struggle of the Impressionists during their movement is synonymous with acknowledgment and appreciation of a changing world. The unyielding belief and patient commitment to the spirit of their work demonstrated how art can be reflective of the ever changing world around them.
Nearly a century later, the value of Impressionism is not only evident in the high prices the early founders works fetch but also in the lesson that they left the world of fine art. Consistent with the plight of any new idea, Impressionist artists struggled against negativity from an uncertain public and dedicated their artistic styles to our history. Unbeknownst to those artists, their efforts created a much larger movement and enriched the lives of many that would follow.
