Impressionism refers to an epoch of the history of art, which is to be found in the second half of the nineteenth century and was mainly used for visual art, but applied to literature in France in 1879. Music, photography and film can also be used to make Impressionistic impacts. Pictures, which are regarded as impressionistic, show above all the nature and impressions of life in the big city. Revolutionary is the reproduction of momentary shadow and light effects, the renouncement of black, which brightened the works and the immediacy of the momentary view and the apparent randomness of the picture excerpt, whereby the technique of painting reminds one another of juxtaposed strokes. Through this technique it often takes a distance to the Impressionist work to be able to grasp it completely. The world should be shown in Impressionism as it was also for the viewer. The artists broke away from the pictorial pictorial function and showed what was happening at the moment.
The term was initially used critically, but it has already been used since 1874 as a term for the current in art science. Nowadays this word is used without any value. The term Impressionism is derived from the title of a painting by Claude Monet, which he exhibited during an exhibition by several artists in the studio of the Parisian photographer Nadar 1874. In addition to Monet, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne and Edgar Degas were involved.
The art critic Louis Leroy critically described the Impression – soleil levant (Impression – Sunrise) as an impressionist. He was furious because he found that a simple tapestry was artistically more sophisticated than Monet’s picture. This work had an unfinished and sketchy effect, which also applied to other exhibits, which is why he later called it the exhibition of Impressionists. Many visitors to the exhibition shared this opinion.
The Impression soleil levant gave impressionism its name
This criticism was devastating: the works of the group of artists were therefore regarded as incomplete, the visitors being appalled by the color-intensive experiments. Some even claimed that they could not see what was depicted in the picture. The result was declining visitor numbers, which meant that the cost of the exhibition, which the artists themselves carried, were not covered.
Nevertheless, the artists took up the notion of Impressionism, which was used by Leroy as a detriment, and henceforth described themselves as Impressionists. This was to be a sign and communicated, that one consciously turned against the established art world of the Salon de Paris, a regular art exhibition. After all, their negative attitude was also responsible for their own and independently organized exhibition of the artists in the studio of the photographer Nadar.
Characteristics of Impressionism
Since impressionism can be found in the visual arts, but also in literature, film, music and photography, concrete features can not, of course, be applied to all media. The following is an overview of this fact. Initially the general features with an emphasis on the painting are shown, in order subsequently to enter into the features in the different forms of representation.
Overview: The characteristics of Impressionism (main focus: painting)
Impressionism is a current that can be found around the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. It can be narrowly understood and then means the years from 1880 to 1910, although a coarser temporal classification is customary, since impressionistic tendencies have existed earlier. Then a period from 1860 to 1920 can be given, although a very exact classification is not possible.
The reason for the name of the current was a work of the painter Claude Monet. This met with opposition and criticism because it was rather sketchy, almost unfinished. The title is Impression – soleil levant. It shows the essential features of the flow.
The main motifs of this painting are found in nature or show impressions of life in the big city. What is important is that these are always snapshots. Frequently it is almost everyday scenes, which are represented, so that the impression arises that the respective picture is a random picture excerpt. Consequently, impressions, ie subjective impressions, and often everyday scenes are shown.
Furthermore, the technique of painting is a characteristic feature of Impressionist art. If such works are regarded from near, the brush strokes seem almost coarse and short. Seen from afar, however, the individual strokes blur, as a result of which forms and objects become visible. Especially in the so-called Neo-Impressionism this painting technique was peptized. Pure colors were mixed as small dots next to each other and only mixed by the distance of the viewer to the image in the gerhirn (yellow and blue color dots are perceived as green from a distance).
It is also characteristic that impressionistic works are usually very colorful, that is, colorful, and characterized by bright and lively color nuances. Thus, momentary shadow and light effects should be reproduced, with the emphasis placed on imitating the strangeness of things. Impressionists often painted in the open and turned from the rigid lighting of a studio.
The Impressionists realized that images are given a tremendous luminosity when they are limited to the basic colors known to us, for example, from the spectrum of a rainbow. Many of the works were produced exclusively by the use of the colors violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, yellow red, red, which were juxtaposed in vigorous, small strokes, so that each stroke was particularly intense.
Overview: The characteristics of Impressionism (main focus: literature)
In the context of the literature, the term is often perceived as imprecise and is not used everywhere. Nevertheless, impressionist tendencies similar to those in painting can also be found in the literature.
What is essential here is that an attempt is made to capture impressions, ie impressions. Thus, instantaneous sensations are at the forefront. At the same time, the descriptions of reality, that is, as a matter of fact, actually take place in the background, while the focus is on the representation of personal, subjective impressions of the poet. One speaks in this context of a mimesis (imitation) of consciousness.
Consequently, the ego is very present in the text. It is at least the instance which can perceive something, which is why the lyrical ego in the poem plays an important function when personal, entirely subjective perceptions are traced.
This attempt to capture impressions and entertainments is also reflected in literary forms. Impressionists, for example, choose short forms (sketches, novellas, one-acts) or use the genre of the lyric to express themselves. These forms are ideal for reproducing concise impressions.
Moreover, in the Impressionist literature, colors or light effects play a special role, so that such texts are often characterized by a tremendous image depiction: things glitter, sparkle, shine, and appear in all their color facets (see synaesthesia, onomatopoeia) ,
Note: Impressionist literature can therefore be regarded as a link between naturalism and symbolism. Naturalism endeavored to represent the reality of things, where symbolism slipped into the dream. Consequently, Impressionism, which places individual impressions as well as sensations in the foreground, stands between these two currents.
Overview: The characteristics of Impressionism (main focus: music)
In music, too, one speaks of this current, although it can be stated only very imprecisely here. Claude Debussy, a French composer, is the main representative. Debussy himself, however, opposed this designation.
In music as well, the focus is on capturing certain impressions as well as the moment. Consequently, the focus is not on the form of music, but on the generated sound image, which is supposed to mediate the subjective.
It is also characteristic that impressionistic music is characterized by soft transitions. For example, in an Impressionist opera within an act, most of the transitions run extremely smoothly, so that no formal pauses arise and the work appears harmonious in itself, although it is sometimes surprising for our listening habits. Therefore the works can hardly be determined by formal criteria.
Overview: The characteristics of Impressionism (main focus: photography & film)
In photography, it is above all the so-called pictorialists who can be attributed to Impressionism. The objective here was also to capture the moment and thereby symbolically simulate state of mind and thus to remove itself from the simple photograph, which only depicts.
It is characteristic of such photos that they are reminiscent of painting due to their blurring and their coarseness. The snapshot, which belongs to the painting itself, can also be seen here, with many photographs reminiscent of a random snapshot.
The Impressionist film was fundamentally based on the characteristics that apply to painting and music. It was tried to get rid of reality and to show different impressions. Frequent stylistic devices were fast cuts, change of settings as well as the use of time-lapse, double exposure, softener and a very conscious blurring of the material. Furthermore, the protagonists are often mentally unstable and the narrative is not linear. A well-known example is Rien que les heures (1926) by the Brazilian director Alberto Cavalcanti (see video).
Impressionism in painting
The main features of Impressionist painting have already been explained in the overview above. In the following, however, these features are supplemented by selected examples, individual features and other conspicuous features relating to the technique of painting.
As described above, the name of the current goes back to a painting by Claude Monet, which he exhibited during an exhibition in the studio of Nadar 1874. This picture clearly illustrates the essential aspects of Impressionism: a momentary situation is caught in the here and now, in most cases the nature or wide spaces are shown, while representations of interior spaces are rarer. Impressions, ie impressions, are painted that express the subjective perception of the artist. This snapshot is illustrated by the main use of basic colors, mainly pictures of strokes or points.
This approach, however, was only partially new in 1874, that is, as Monet and other artists. In 1874, for the first time, many Impressionist paintings concentrated on one another, but first attempts were already made around 1860, as for example in Édouard Manet’s Music in the Tuileries (1862). The earliest beginnings of Impressionism were already found in Manet in 1862
Édouard Manet, Music in the Tuileries, 1862, National Gallery, London (detail)
On Manet’s masterpiece, there are numerous characteristics, which should later be regarded as typical characteristics of Impressionism. In doing so, a scene from modern everyday life is presented and not an overloaded scenario, which reveals historical events or mythological and religious themes. Manet shows something banal, which acts like a snapshot. This is typical impressionistic.
The work, also a typical feature, originated outdoors and shows a society among trees, that is, in nature. Furthermore, it is an enormous color variety and almost seems to shine. This love for the colorful is, moreover, characteristic of impressionistic works. Thus, the attempt is made to capture the natural light, with effects of shadows and light appearing in color.
This approach is in stark contrast to the current painting of that time. In particular, dark shades dominated, which were dominated by numerous shades of gray and brown. Impressionism is a contrast to this painting, which is especially evident in Claude Monet, who developed a unique painting technique: painting with unmixed colors. Bordighera, a work by Claude Monet, is clearly impressionistic
Claude Monet, Bordighera, 1884, Art Institute of Chicago (detail)
In the example above, the individual color dots and dashes appear to be juxtaposed and not to be connected to each other by large-area application of the color. This characteristic is also characteristic of the art of flow. This technique was pushed to the extreme in the so-called Neo-Impressionism, which was later called Pointillism.
Contrary to the representatives of Impressionism, who did not write any essays or theoretical works about their art, Paul Signac and Georges Seurat, who are the main representatives of Neo-Impressionism, left a scientific treatise on their art.
It is characteristic for this that lines and lines are virtually dispensed with, and only color dots stand close together. As a result, the viewer has to look at the work from a distance, which was already partly the case for the earlier works of Impressionism. Only in this way is it possible for the individual points to become blurred to a work of art and also objects become visible.
It is striking here that the principle of Impressionist painting was certainly pushed to the top. This image is formally a mosaic of pure basic colors and illuminates intensively. Neo-Impressionists, but also Impressionists, rejected the representation of details, since that would require a precise drawing. In Seurat’s work, however, the objects almost disappear.
Nevertheless, Impressionists rejected details, showed feelings and everyday momentary impressions, and yet they remained true to the perspective and spatial division in painting. Paths and people become smaller on the horizon, and the basic proportions of what is represented are preserved. Sometimes it is only necessary to take a step back in order to recognize exactly this.
Representatives of Impressionist painting
Australia
Charles Conder (1868-1909)
Emanuel Phillips Fox (1865-1915)
Florence Fuller (1867-1946)
Frederick McCubbin (1855-1917)
Tom Roberts (1856-1931)
Clara Southern (1861-1940)
Jane Sutherland (1853-1928)
Arthur Ernest Streeton (1867-1943)
Walter Withers (1854-1914)
Belgium
Hippolyte Boulenger (1837-1874)
Emile Claus (1849-1924)
James Ensor (1860-1949)
Louis Artan de Saint Martin (1837-1890)
Félicien Rops (1833-1898)
Alfred Stevens (1823-1906)
Guillaume Vogels (1836-1896)
Denmark
Viggo Johansen (1851-1934)
Peder Severin Krøyer (1841-1910)
Carl Ludwig Locher (1851-1915)
Theodor Philipsen (1840-1920)
Laurits Anderson’s Ring (1854-1933)
Christiano Möhri (1867-1945)
Germany
Otto Antoine (1865-1951)
Hermann Bahner (1867-1938)
Paul Baum (1859-1932)
Klaus Bemmer (1921-1979)
Ferdinand Brütt (1849 – 1936)
Wilhelm Claudius (1854-1942)
Lovis Corinth (1858-1925)
Hans Dieter (1881-1968)
Louis Eysen (1843-1899)
Philipp Franck (1860-1944)
Adolf Glatte (1866-1920)
Karl Hagemeister (1848-1933)
Theodor Hagen (1842-1919)
Paul Klimsch (1868-1917)
Minna Köhler-Roeber (1883-1957)
Gotthardt Kuehl (1850-1915)
Christian Landenberger (1862-1927)
Max Liebermann (1847-1935)
Richard Mund (1885-1968)
Ernst Oppler (1867-1929)
Richard Pietzsch (1872-1960)
Hermann Pleuer (1863-1911)
Leo Putz (1869-1940)
Otto Cleaner (1863-1909)
Christian Rohlfs (1849-1938)
Johannes Rudolphi (1877-1950)
Fritz Schider (1846-1907)
Franz Skarbina (1849-1910)
Maria Slavonazius (1865-1951)
Max Slevogt (1868-1932)
Erwin Starker (1872-1938)
Robert Starlin (1867-1936)
Robert Sterl (1867-1932)
Wilhelm Trübner (1851-1917)
Karl Walther (1905-1981)
Albert Weisgerber (1878-1915)
Fritz-Jürgen Wilthagen (1876-1956)
Finland
Fanny Churberg (1845-1892)
Albert Edelfelt (1854-1905)
Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931)
Victor Westerholm (1860-1919)
France
Frédéric Bazille (1841-1870)
Eugène Boudin (1824-1898)
Marie Bracquemond (1840-1916)
Louis Édouard Joseph Braquaval (1854-1919)
Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894)
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Edgar Degas (1834-1917)
Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)
Eva Gonzalès (1847-1883)
Armand Guillaumin (1841-1927)
Édouard Manet (1832-1883)
Maxime Maufra (1861-1918)
Claude Monet (1840-1926)
Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)
Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)
Alfred Sisley (1839-1899)
Great Britain
George Clausen (1852-1944)
Wynford Dewhurst (1864-1941)
Augustus Edwin John (1878-1961)
Henry Herbert La Thangue (1859-1926)
John Lavery (1856-1941)
William Orpen (1878-1931)
William MacTaggart (1835-1910)
Philip Wilson Steer (1860-1942)
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
Italy
Giuseppe Abbati (1836-1868)
Odoardo Borrani (1833-1905)
Guglielmo Ciardi (1842-1917)
Giovanni Fattori (1825-1908)
Pietro Fragiacomo (1856-1922)
Eugenio Gignous (1850-1906)
Silvestro Lega (1826-1895)
Giuseppe de Nittis (1846-1884)
Andrea Pavanello (1842-1906)
Daniele Ranzoni (1843-1889)
Raffaello Sernesi (1838-1866)
Telemaco Signorini (1835-1901)
Netherlands
Albertus Gerardus Pictures (1838-1865)
George Hendrik Breitner (1857-1923)
Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël (1818-1903)
Jacob Hendricus Maris (1838-1899)
Willem Maris (1844-1910)
Anton Mauve (1838-1888)
Willem Roelofs (1822-1897)
Jan Toorop (1858-1928)
Johan Hendrik Weissenbruch (1824-1903)
Willem de Zwart (1862-1931)
Vincent Willem van Gogh (1853-1890)
Norway
Gunnar Berg (1863-1893)
Thorolf Holmboe (1866-1935)
Ludvik Peter Karsten (1876-1926)
Elke Christie Kielland
Christian Krohg (1852-1925)
Kalle Løchen (1865-1893)
Henrik Lund (1879-1935)
Georg Anton Rasmussen (1842-1914)
Otto Sinding (1842-1909)
Frits Thaulow (1847-1906)
Erik Werenskiold (1855-1938)
Austria
Tina Blau-Lang (1845-1916)
Theodor von Hörmann (1840-1895)
Eugene Jettel (1845-1901)
August of Pettenkofen (1822-1889)
Rudolf Ribarz (1848-1904)
Anton Romako (1832-1889)
Emil Jakob Schindler (1842-1892)
Carl Schuch (1846-1903)
Olga Wisinger-Florian (1844-1926)
Poland
Aleksander Gierymski (1850-1901)
Władysław Podkowiński (1866-1896)
Romania
Ion Andreescu (1850-1882)
Nicolae Dărăscu (1883-1959)
Nicolae Grigorescu (1838-1907)
Ştefan Luchian (1868-1916)
Gheorghe Petraşcu (1872-1949)
Russia
Lew Samoilovich Bakst (1866-1924)
Alexander Nikolaevich Benoa (1870-1960)
Konstantin Iwanowitsch Gorbatoff (1876-1945)
Igor Emmanuilowitsch Grabar (1871-1960)
Konstantin Alexeyevich Korowin (1861-1939)
Isaak Iljitsch Lewitan (1860-1910)
Vladimir Jegorovich Makowski (1846-1920)
Wassily Grigoryevich Perov (1834-1882)
Wassili Dmitrievich Polenow (1844-1927)
Illarion Mikhaylovich Prjanischnikov (1840-1894)
Walentin Alexandrowitsch Serow (1865-1911)
Konstantin Andreyevich Somow (1869-1939)
Wassily Wassiljewitsch Wereschtschagin (1842-1904)
Sergei Arsenievich Winogradov (1869-1938)
Sweden
Carl Fredrik Hill (1849-1911)
Nils Edvard Kreuger (1858-1930)
Karl Fredrik Nordström (1855-1923)
Prince Eugene Napoleon of Sweden (1865-1947)
Anders Zorn (1860-1920)
Switzerland
François Bocion (1828-1890)
Frank Buchser (1828-1890)
Barthélemy Menn (1815-1893)
Alexandre Perrier (1862-1936)
Spain
Aureliano de Beruete (1845-1912)
Francisco Domingo (1842-1920)
Marià Fortuny (1838-1874)
Francisco Gimeno Arasa (1858-1927)
Carlos de Haes (1826-1898)
Joaquim Mir (1873-1940)
Ignacio Pinazo (1849-1916)
Dario de Regoyos Valdes (1857-1913)
Martín Rico y Ortega (1833-1908)
Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923)
Czech Republic
Antonín Chittussi (1847-1891)
Ludvík Cuba (1863-1956)
Antonín Hudeček (1872-1941)
František Kaván (1866-1941)
František Kupka (1871-1957)
Rudolf Kremlička (1886-1932)
Otakar Lebeda (1877-1901)
Václav Radimský (1867-1946)
Antonín Slavíček (1870-1910)
Hungary
Mihály Munkácsy (1844-1900)
László Paál (1846-1879)
Géza Mészöly (1844-1887)
Pál Szinyei Merse (1845-1920)
Károly Ferenczy (1862-1917)
József Rippl-Rónai (1861-1927)
USA
Dennis Miller Bunker (1861-1890)
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926)
Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874-1939)
William Merritt Chase (1849-1916)
Childe Hassam (1859-1935)
Willard Leroy Metcalf (1858-1925)
Edward Henry Potthast (1857-1927)
Theodore Robinson (1852-1896)
John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)
John Henry Twachtman (1853-1902)
Julian Alden Weir (1852-1919)
Impressionism in the literature
Impressionism, which is especially true of the current in the visual arts, was, however, also imitated in other forms of representation. The following is an example of the extent to which Impressionism influenced the literary landscape, the characteristics of the literature of this epoch, and the representatives or works that make the flow clear.
Basically, literature takes up the essential features of Impressionism: the essential is that sensations and impressions are impressed. It is not so much about the representation of reality as about what the poet at the moment perceives and perceives.
In painting this volatility of the moment was realized by means of color nuances, which almost threaten to blur. In the literature there are impressions, thoughts as well as emotions, which are arranged in single words, word sequences and partly synonymous sentences. Thus the literary also represented a world as it unfolded itself at the moment for the observer. Let’s look at an example:
Sun-green rosengarten,
Solar current flood,
Sonnenstiller Morgenfriede,
The resting on tree and beds –
A nightingale sings along the river.
In the above example, the second stanza from Detlev von Liliencron’s poem, “Schöne Junitage,” impressions are predominantly arranged. The first three lines of verse consist basically of an adjective and a noun, which is described. This rendering of the moments is even more marked by the use of occasionalisms, which determine the beginning of the stanza (cf. neologism).
The attempt to bring these fleeting impressions of the lyric self to paper is, however, not only found in lyric poetry but also in prose. Examples include the novel of the writer Laurent Brigitte (1908) by Rainer Maria Rilke or the novel Leutnant Gustl (1900) by the Austrian narrator and playwright Arthur Schnitzler.
The records of Rilke consist of 71 diary entries of the protagonist Malte Laurids Brigge. The work does not have a typical narrator (cf. narrative perspective) and has, moreover, no continuous action. Rather, an attempt is made to imitate the impressions and inner conflicts of the Roman heroes through individual and fleeting records. The same is true of Leutnant Gustl. Schnitzler used exclusively the inner monologue, whereby the impressions of the protagonist are reflected and reproduced only in the self-talk.
Typical forms of impressionism in the literature are, therefore, above all brief, or characterized by a series of fleeting impressions. Consequently, lyric poetry is a popular genre of that time. Frequent texts are the sketches, novels, one-act or even diary entries.
Representatives of impressionist literature
Germany
Max Dauthendey (1867-1918)
Richard Dehmel (1863-1920)
Stefan George (1868-1933)
Eduard von Keyserling (1855-1918)
Detlev of Liliencron (1844-1909)
Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1931)
Stefan Zweig (1881-1942)
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)
France
Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867)
Stéphane Mallarmé (1842-1898)
Marcel Proust (1871-1922)
Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891)
Paul Verlaine (1844-1896)
Czech Republic
Antonín Sova (1864-1928)
Denmark
Herman Bang (1857-1912)
Jens Peter Jacobsen (1847-1885)
Short overview: The most important to Impressionism at a glance
Impressionism is defined as a flow of art history, which is mainly expressed in the visual arts. However, Impressionist tendencies are also found in literature, music, film and also in photography.
All these arts and forms of representation have in common that Impressionist artists have tried to capture the moment, that is, to create momentary snapshots, just as they were perceived. It was not, therefore, primarily a question of a representation of reality, but of the fact that what was presented was to be represented as it was perceived at the moment.
In painting, it is pure strokes, which are placed side by side and blending into each other, thus conveying volatility; in literature there are, above all, stratified sensory impressions; in music the focus is not on the form, but on the generated sound image, which should convey the subjective; with film and photography being concerned with capturing the instant and acting almost snapshot-like.