Impressionism

Impressionism was a movement in modern art that developed from the late 18^th century. Renoir, Pisarro, Guillaumin, Bazille and most notably Claude Monet would work together sharing ideas, thoughts and techniques to produce work to be exhibited alongside each other in the art quarter of Paris.

Similar to Romanticism, the movement came as a revolution and rejection of the traditional basis for creating artwork based on historical and symbolic themes. The impressionist movement saw the shift in focus from the subject matter to the artists’ use of colour and texture, thus rather a painting being the depiction of an event, the event was a showcase for the painting techniques themselves.

Edouard Manet was an influential artist, even said to have been the main inspiration for the impressionists, yet he himself also adopted the impressionist style that his prodigies had formed.

Texture in paintings overtook outlines and bordering in impressionist art, instead using swift strokes or playful flecks and dabs to form layers to create the subject matter. As well as changing texture styles, colour choices changed too, where dark colours and blacks were used for shadow, complementary colours as well as bright shades were used. Cropped aspects and perspectives were adopted from Japanese art culture, challenging the realist perspectives of before.

Monet’s Water Lilies series is a good example of impressionism; note his absence of lines and free flow and blotting techniques to form shapes.