Impressionism and its influence on subsequent trends in painting

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Everything originates somewhere in the past, including art. Directions in painting have changed with the times, and the current trends are far from clear to everyone. But everything new is well-forgotten old, and to understand today's painting, you don't need to know the history of art from ancient times, you just need to remember the painting of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The middle of the 19th century is a time of change not only in history, but also in art. Everything that was before: classicism, romanticism, and even more so academicism - currents limited by certain limits. In France in the 1950s and 1960s, the trends in painting were set by the official Salon, but the typical “Salon” art did not suit everyone, and this explained the emerging new trends. In the painting of that time there was a revolutionary explosion, which broke with centuries-old traditions and foundations. And one of the epicenters was Paris, where in the spring of 1874 young painters, among whom were Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, Degas, Renoir and Cezanne, organizedown exhibition. The works presented there were completely different from the salon ones. The artists used a different method - reflections, shadows and light were conveyed by pure colors, separate strokes, the shape of each object seemed to dissolve in the air-light environment. No other direction in painting knew such methods. These effects helped to express as much as possible their impressions of ever-changing things, nature, people. One journalist called the group "Impressionists", thus he wanted to show his disdain for young artists. But they accepted this term, and it eventually took root and entered into active use, losing its negative meaning. This is how impressionism appeared, unlike all other trends in painting of the 19th century.

At first, the reaction to the innovation was more than hostile. Nobody wanted to buy too bold and new painting, and they were afraid, because all the critics did not take the Impressionists seriously, they laughed at them. Many said that the Impressionist artists wanted to achieve quick fame, they were not satisfied with the sharp break with conservatism and academicism, as well as the unfinished and "sloppy" look of the work. But even hunger and poverty could not force the artists to abandon their beliefs, and they persisted until their painting was finally recognized. But it took too long to wait for recognition, some impressionist artists were no longer alive then.

As a result, the trend that originated in Paris in the 60swas of great importance for the development of world art of the 19th and 20th centuries. After all, future trends in painting were repelled precisely from impressionism. Each subsequent style appeared in search of a new one. Post-Impressionism was born by the same Impressionists who decided that their method was limited: deep and ambiguous symbolism was a response to painting that had “lost its meaning”, and Art Nouveau, even with its name, calls for a new one. Of course, many changes have taken place in art since 1874, but all modern trends in painting are somehow repelled by a fleeting Parisian impression.