Characteristic Elements of Impressionist Painting

Elements

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Characteristic Elements of Impressionist Painting

The first exhibition of Impressionists as a group was in 1874 and the last one in 1886. Nevertheless, before 1974 there were artists that already painted in an Impressionist manner and there were Impressionists that continued painting that way in the 20th century.

• The capturing of the instant.
• Artist's impressions. The artists depict things as they appear to the eye at first glance.
• Loose brushstroke. Rapid, spontaneous, large, and visible brushstrokes.
• Protagonism of light.
• Series that reflect the changes of light. Impressionism at its highest point: the demonstration that the changes of light and in atmospheric conditions modify things at every moment.
• Tones obtained with juxtaposed brushstrokes. Tones are generated when those brushstrokes of different pure colors that are one next to the other, “get mixed” by the viewer’s eye.
• Fundamental theme: landscape. It allows to explore the effects of light and the changes in atmospheric conditions.
• Other favorite themes: social events and everyday life.
• Absence of black.
• Plein air (outdoor painting). Necessary to have a “direct experience” with that reality they want to capture.

Recommended links:

Fundamental Painters of Impressionism.

Timeline: from Neoclassicism till the end of the 19th century.

The First Impressionist Exhibition (1874).

Plein Air Painting.

Monet’s path to Impressionism.

The First Series of Monet.

Women of the Impressionism.

Stories behind the Works of Art: Monet and the Rouen Cathedral.

Fundamental Paintings to Understand the History of Painting: Luncheon of the Boating Party, Renoir.

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