Impressionist paintings - masterpieces of past masters and our contemporaries

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

It is believed that art has no boundaries. Nevertheless, people have decided to divide the works of artists into genres, in which one can get confused quite easily, because the boundaries of styles are conditional. Today we will talk about one of the main trends in painting - impressionism.

The Rise of Impressionism

Impressionism as a genre of art originated in France in the 1870s. The origin of this style was the creation of the painting by C. Monet "Impression. Sunrise" (1872). One journalist called the artist an impressionist, but with a negative connotation. But soon it was forgotten, and the picture gave rise to a new genre.

In 1874, the first individual exhibition was held by the Impressionist artists. The paintings exhibited on it were criticized for their lack of meaning, looseness and poor rendering. However, the artists did not stop and continued to organize such events, declaring their art.

Impressionism was a purely French phenomenon. Artists from other countries were able to adopt some features, but not to the full extent.

It was the Impressionists who were the first to depart from generally accepted standards and patternsacademic writing, thus giving a huge impetus to the development of art. They were deeply involved in the research of colors and new writing techniques, which ultimately led us to today's diversity.

It should be noted that impressionism had a serious influence and inspired representatives of other areas of art with its novelty: sculpture, music and literature.

What Impressionist paintings tell about

Impressionism focuses on the image and the impression it gives to the viewer. Impressionist paintings most often depict ordinary scenes from life: the bustle of the city or landscapes. Their works give viewers those fleeting impressions experienced by the painters themselves. Impressionism does not notice problems or negativity, it shows only the positive aspects of life.

Mostly in the paintings you can see scenes such as picnics, boating, dancing, tea parties, outdoor fun and other joys of life. The people in the paintings were not frozen, but moving, playing, laughing, most often depicted by the Impressionists. The paintings allow us to plunge into the living reality of past centuries, to see what kind of situation surrounded the people of the 19th century.

Features of Impressionist paintings

The talent of reflecting on the canvas of an instant first impression is the main feature of all artists. They always created from nature, without any sketches, capturing and conveying the general mood. Impressionist paintings do not carry a deep meaning or hidden content, they depict everyday life, but they do it not just, butmasterfully. When looking at such pictures, the viewer immediately has a certain thought or emotion, which remains for some time after viewing.

A special style of writing was developed by the Impressionists. The paintings painted by them are most often distinguished by fuzzy lines and separate strokes of primary colors. The fact is that they conveyed all the colors with a standard set of paints, skillfully putting strokes. In their works, they paid much attention to the play of light, sunbeams and shadows, trying to create contrast. Indicative in this respect is the painting by O. Renoir "Ball at the Moulin de la Galette" (1876).

Great Impressionists of the Past

Since the inception of the movement, there have been many artists who worked in the style of impressionism, but very few can be called truly great. So, the most famous impressionist artists are C. Monet, O. Renoir, A. Sisley and C. Pissarro. In general, impressionism as a trend was especially popular at the end of the 19th century, it was then that true masters created.

This direction in painting was the beginning, inspiration for other equally famous artists - V. van Gogh, P. Cezanne, P. Gauguin. These artists became the founders of post-impressionism, which made it its goal to abandon the image of real life, the transition to the image of its foundations.

Modern Impressionists

Do not think that the direction ceased to exist after its heyday. Until now, there are artists who choose impressionism for their work.

Paintings of modern impressionists cause no less admiration than paintings of the past. To date, many masters create in this genre, but time will tell which of them is most worthy of this title. Nevertheless, there are several artists whose canvases are positioned as Impressionist paintings. Photos of their work are presented below.

Take, for example, an artist named Kent R. Wallis. His canvases are distinguished by bright, rich colors, with which he creates magnificent landscapes.

Also mesmerizing are the paintings by artist I. J. Paproski (E. J. Paprocki).

In his canvases, flowers, leaves and other small elements are very realistic, while the rest of the background is done with strokes. This allows him to convey the beauty of the details and at the same time the general first impressions characteristic of impressionism.