IMPRESSIONISM

TIME PERIOD1872 – 1880s

KEY IDEAS

Art of industrialized, urbanized Paris. Artists focused on a single moment and tried to create an ‘impression’.

Brushwork is spontaneous and fluid.

Impressionists were preoccupied with the effects of light and color on form.

Artists make little to no attempt to blend color.

CLAUDE MONET, Rouen Cathedral, 1892-1894. Oil on canvas, 10’4” x 21’9”.

CLAUDE MONET, Four Poplar Trees, 1891. Oil on canvas,

CLAUDE MONET, Haystack at the Sunset Near Giverny, 1891. Oil on canvas.

PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR, Le Moulin de la Galette, 1876. Oil on canvas, 4’3” x 5’8”.

EDGAR DEGAS, The Rehearsal Onstage, 1874. Pastel, ink on paper, 1’ 9” x 2’4”.

MARY CASSATT, The Bath, c. 1892. Oil on canvas, 3’3” x 2’2”.

MARY CASSATT, Mother and Child with a Rose Scarf, 1908. Oil on canvas, 3’10” x 3’.

ÉDOUARD MANET, Bar at the Folies Bergère, 1881-1882. Oil on canvas, 2’2” x 4’3”.

BERTHE MORISOT, Villa at the Seaside, 1874. Oil on canvas, 1’8” x 2’.

HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC, At the Moulin Rouge, 1892-1895. Oil on canvas, 4’ x 4’7”.

JAMES WHISTLER, Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist’s Mother, 1871. Oil on canvas.

JAMES WHISTLER, Nocturne in Black and Gold, c. 1875. Oil on panel, 2’ x 1’7”.