Impressionism

When a small group of young painters emerged in France around 1870 to show the world a new, modern way of seeing and painting that departed from Naturalism, prioritizing subjective perception and dissolving contours to capture the fleeting moment in its shimmering play of colors, they faced mockery and scorn, like all avant-gardists at the time. The Impressionists not only distinguished themselves through their loose, vibrant brushwork and innovative use of bold, bright colors, but also through other stylistic features that set them apart from the conventional imagery favored by art-loving citizens. They presented subjects devoid of any grandeur or pathos: street scenes with anonymous passersby, leisurely activities in parks and at horse races, scenes in bars and bistros, and landscapes that forgo composition and depth in favor of the interplay of light and color and the depiction of immediate visual impressions. Today, the Impressionist movement is regarded as a swan song for classical painting and the cradle of modernity. This introduction to Impressionist painting features not only the greats of this style, such as Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Berthe Morisot, and Camille Pissarro, but also many other artists who deserve greater recognition, such as Marie Bracquemond, Medardo Rosso, and Fritz von Uhde.