Art Through the Ages: Impressionism

People have made art for thousands of years, and from the beginning its style and purpose have been ever changing. The Egyptians used two-dimension pictures to record history and give information, and the Greeks and Romans used art to decorate their homes and remember their gods. During the Renaissance, art was mostly used in churches to depict religious scenes and create portraits of the rich and famous. Going further in time, to the nineteenth century, art had another turning point. It was around this time that Impressionism began and changed the way art was done. Even after the original Impressionists were gone, people have admired their works. The Impressionists have made some of the most famous and most valued artworks know today, and their successors have done the same. Impressionism changed the way artists thought about art and brought in new artistic methods as well. Impressionism is an important part of art, art's history and its advancements.

"The Impressionist style of painting is characterized chiefly by concentration on general impression produced by a scene or object and the use of unmixed primary colors and small strokes to simulate actual reflected light" (Pioch). The Impressionists broke the rules of conventional art that they were expected to follow and that had been followed for centuries. Rather than trying to please the Académie, which was considered the authority on what was "good" art; a group of young, talented, French painters came together and began to create an art that was completely different. The Impressionists wanted to paint exactly what they saw as if they were seeing it for the first time, or if it were their first impression. Their art was considered so different that it was initially mocked by art critics and was not accepted by the Académie.

Before Impressionism, Realism was the proper way to paint, and it was like this for an exceedingly long time. The Académie de Beaux-Arts, or Academy of Fine Arts, began in the 1600's, ever since then the Académie had set the standards for French art. At the time, the only kinds of paintings that were acceptable were of religious scenes, mythology, the famous, and historical events. "Unlike Realism, [Impressionists] were not concerned about politics...instead they painted scenes of leisure activities" (Heckman). Before the Impressionists, artists rarely went against these expectations.

Not only did the Académie determine what subjects should be used, the way one was supposed to go about creating a painting had standards to meet as well. During this time, artists drew out their work in great detail; they used hard edges and straight lines within their paintings. Furthermore, the artists under the influence of the Académie would have had a smooth texture on the canvas, showing almost no brushstrokes. The canvas would be dark and the colors used were unadventurous, creating a very dismal scene. The Impressionists broke all these rules and did the complete opposite in every way. Instead, these fresh artists used used a full spectrum palette, meaning no black or browns. They wanted the light and color found in nature on their canvas, and they used white backgrounds and did not blend colors to make the painting vibrant and interesting. The Impressionists looked past an image when painting. They were not interested in making a photograph; they wanted something more.

During the mid-1800's, the Impressionists began to come together in a section of Paris called the Batignolles area, which was a popular spot for anyone who had a love of art (Parks 36). It was then that artists like Edgar Degas, famous for his dancers, and Claude Monet, famous for his landscapes, came together along with other artists like Paule Cézanne, Camille Pissarro, Pierre Auguste Renoir, and Alfred Sisley. Collectively, they formed the revolutionary group which would later be know as the Impressionists. Together these artists created something called the Société Anonyme des artistes, peintures, sculptures, graveurs etc. and went against the approval of the Académie. The purpose of Société Anonyme was the allow artists to display their art without censure. This meant that artists could create their works the way they wanted without having to follow any rules or worry about the "interference of a jury" (Parks 49).

The minds of the young Impressionists were opened up to this idea by Realist painters like Édouard Manet and Eugène Boudin. Manet sought the approval of the Académie but he always tried to portray everyday life in his paintings. He painted the way he wanted, but to his disappointment the Académie would not accept his work. Although Manet never intended to go against the Académie, the Impressionists were inspired by him. Boudin also played a part in teaching the Impressionists, especially Monet, who learned directly from him. He thought that anything painted on a canvas should be painted on the spot and paintings of nature should be done in nature, not in a studio. "What Impressionists were trying to do with paint was to reproduce as truthfully as possible the intense rich visual experience which the human eye conveyed to the the mind" (Anderson 2).

The idea Boudin had about painting outside is called plein air, which means "in the open air". Plein air was of much importance in may of the Impressionists' paintings and the artists used it in varying degrees. Plein air allowed them to go out in life and paint from light and capture it in their art. Before plein air became popular, artists painted indoors using artificial light. Light was important because it affected the colors in the painting and the mood the artist wanted to bring forth. A variation of plein air is "alla prima", or "single sitting" painting. An artist would paint an entire picture in one sitting, without putting it aside or reworking it later. Alla prima was one of the fundamental methods closest to the Impressionists' original ideals, yet few of them created their paintings entirely in this way. Usually, they would begin alla prima but most times they would do a little fixing later on (Hodge 14).

Color also played a tremendous part in how Impressionism was done. One of the reasons Impressionists were able to paint in nature was because of the portability of paint in tubes, which had come into existence around that time. During the Impressionists' time synthetic colors were invented, which gave way to new rich and bold colors. The Impressionists used these synthetic paints a lot because of the brilliance of color as well as the portability of the paint. "In translating the purity and brilliance of their vision they eliminated every trace of earth color...from their palettes" (Mathey 107). Georges Seurat was an example of this thinking; in his painting, Bathers at Asnières, "Seurat wanted to capture the feeling of a lazy Sunday afternoon that would seem more real than the actual scene" (Howlett 2). In the painting, he used opposite colors side by side to make something appear brighter. For example, in order to make the grass in the painting, he combined blue and yellow brushstrokes together which, from a distance, make the eye blend the colors together to make green; this is called optical mixing. He also added in specs of red because it is complementary, or opposite, of green. This added an effect of movement and shimmer to the painting (Howlett 2). Seurat broke up the colors by making brushstrokes that were thousands of tiny dots, lines, and slashes; this technique is known as pointillism.

Renoir had said that "No shadow is black. It always has color. Nature knows only colors...white and black are not colors." They believed that white reflects all colors, so all surfaces that appear white must include colors ans well. This meant that black, the opposite of white, is the absence of color (Hodge 23). Using the theory of complementary colors, violet was considered to be the color to used as a shadow because it is the opposite of yellow, the color of sunlight. Monet avoided black as well; to make a color close to black he mixed many colors together with the exception of white or yellow. Monet said that when painting objects, try to forget what objects are being painted, instead, think of it as a little square of blue, and oblong of pink or a streak of yellow. After a while, an image can be seen (Boddy-Evans). Most of the Impressionists worked with oil paint rather than pencil because of the importance of color. Drawing was not an important as the color itself which showed the emotion the artist wanted to represent, gut often times they would do light sketches before they would paint.

Unlike the Realists before them, Impressionists used dramatic brushstrokes to give the essence of the image, and the paint was put on thick which added texture. Rather than smoothing out the brush strokes, Impressionists were the first group of artists who did not try to hide brushstrokes. The Impressionists' brushstrokes were left bold, unrefined and obvious; this often times blurred the image, giving it a rough look. However, if one were to stand away form the painting, the eye puts together the picture, but if too close the image can be lost and all that is found is a smattering of colors. When the artists used their brushes in this way, it was also a way to contribute to the mood they wanted to create within the painting. Impasto is the term used for the technique of applying oil paints thickly and liberally so that it keeps the marks left by the brush. Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, and Cézanne were some of the Impressionists who used this technique. Often times, they would use palette knives for various tasks, however palette knives were good for applying thick layers of paint, or Impasto, to create the texture they desired (Hodge 16).

Towards the end of the 1870's, Impressionism was gaining more and more recognition even though it was still not accepted by the artistic establishments. The painters who began the movement began to go their own ways, but this did not stop their influence on many other artists. Famous painters like Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Cézanne were all inspired by the Impressionists. These artists were called Post-impressionists because they were inspired by Impressionism; however, they wanted to take it to a greater level (Parks 59, 91). The Post-impressionists learned from the founders to paint what they felt and to take on new challenges and experiment with what they painted without worrying about being rejected by the artistic establishments (Parks 91). The Impressionist's methods in art are echoed today in many modern paintings. They opened the way for other artists to explore art and make discoveries. Impressionism led to other movements in art a well, for instance, Cézanne's and Seurat's art "resulted in an abstract concept that was impersonal, geometric, and seeking to rid nature of everything non pictorial" (Mathey 202). Artists today experiment with color and try to find new ways to express themselves in their art, just as the Impressionists did. it is also common for artists to paint outdoors, something Impressionists made popular. Today's artists express themselves how ever they want without worry of any rules saying their work is not art. Without the Impressionists famous artists like Salvador Dali or Andy Warhol may not have created the art they did, or it might have gone unrecognized.

After centuries of rules and regulations, Impressionism broke through the barriers set by the authorities of art. Impressionism discovered new ways to go about creating art whether it was how to think about art and express one self, the methods used in putting the paint on the canvas or finding new ways to play with color and the way it is perceived. These pioneers taught future artists to paint in a way one would fine comfortable, not to try to please others or follow a set of rules. Therefore, it is safe to say that Impressionism is indeed an important part of art, it's history and its advancements. French Impressionism can be added to the lineage of art history along with the Greeks, Romans and the Renaissance, and it deserves its place along side other famous works in art museums around the world. The work of these visionary artists will be admired for centuries to come.

Anderson, Janice.The Art of the Impressionist. Parragon, UK: Parragon, 2004.

Boddy-Evans, Marion. "Techniques of the Impressionists: What Colors are Shadows?."

About.com. 9 Mar 2009

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Hodge, Susie.How to Paint Like the Impressionists. New York: Collins Design, 2004.

Howlett Margaret Ed. "A Young Genius" Scholastic Art Sept. - Oct. 1995: 3.

Mathey, Francois.The Impressionists. New York: Frederick A. Praeger Inc, 1961.

Parks, Peggy J.Eye on Art: Impressionism. New York: Thomas Gale, 2007.

Pioch, Nicolas. "Paris WebMuseum."Impressionism. 19 June 2006. 9 Mar 2009

<http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/glo/impressionism/>.