THE IMPRESSIONISTS

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THE IMPRESSIONISTS
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FORERUNNERS

• Delacroix - use of colour
• Constable - direct studies from nature
• Turner - painter of light and atmosphere
• Corot - sensitive treatment of light and form
• Courbet - anti-establishment, painter of peasants
  and work
• Jongkind - painted landscape and seascape out of
  doors
• Boudin - painter of seascapes and skies, big
  influence on Monet
• Manet - challenge to established techniques and
  subject matter, marvellous handling of
  paint, painter of real life scenes

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MAIN ARTISTS

• Monet Pissarro Sisley
• Degas Renoir Manet
• Morisot Cassatt
• Van Gogh Cezanne Gauguin Seurat

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MAIN CHARACTERISTICS

• The Impressionists painted the immediacy and
  spontaneity of the scene in front of them
• They tried to record the impression of a scene
  without introducing unnecessary elements into
  their paintings
• They painted out of doors, quickly and on a small
  scale
• Light played a vital role in capturing the
  effects the Impressionists were trying to achieve
• The Impressionist palette was light, using little
  black and was painted on top of a white
  background - their paintings were vibrant
• They developed a style of painting in small
  vigorous patches of colour in various
  combinations
• Their paintings captured the moment clearly
  describing weather conditions time of day
  season of year etc.

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CRITICISMS

• The paintings had no finish or polish to them
• There appeared to be little drawing in them
• There was a total disregard for formal
  composition
• The use of colour was raw
• The application of the paint was harsh
• The subject matter of their paintings was either
  mundane or scandalous

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Claude Monet
Woman with a Parasol 1875
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Claude Monet
Poplars on the Epte 1891
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Claude Monet
Gare St - Lazare 1877
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Claude Monet
London Houses of Parliament 1903
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SUMMING UPIDENTIFYING FEATURES

• The Impressionists made use of pure colour in
  their work
• Pictures painted mostly out of doors
• Subject matter affected by light and weather
  conditions
• Objects lacked definition
• Absence of black
• Optical effect of colour on canvas ( blue /
  yellow green )
• Complementary colour in shadows
• Vigorously applied brush work
• Surfaces built up with many small brush strokes
• Unusual composition e.g. figures moving out of
  picture frame
• Subject matter describing everyday life
• Picture unity achieved through use of colour and
  brush work