It is believed that art has no boundaries. Nevertheless, people decided to divide the works of artists by genre, which can be quite easily confused, because the boundaries of styles are arbitrary. Today we will talk about one of the main directions in painting - impressionism.
The emergence of impressionism
Impressionism as a genre of art arose in France in the 1870s. The origin of this style was the creation of K. Monet's painting "Impression. Sunrise" (1872). One journalist called the artist an impressionist, but with a negative meaning. But soon it was forgotten, and the picture gave rise to a new genre.
in 1874, their first separate exhibition was held by imperialist artists. The paintings exhibited on it were criticized for the lack of meaning, looseness and poor rendering. However, the artists did not stop and continued to organize such events, declaring their art.
Impressionism was a purely French phenomenon. Artists from other countries were able to adopt some features, but not fully.
It was the Impressionists who were the first to depart from the universally recognized standards and templates of academic writing, thereby giving a huge impetus to the development of art. They were deeply engaged in the study of colors and new writing techniques, which ultimately led us to today's diversity.
It should be noted that impressionism had a serious impact and inspired by its novelty representatives of other areas of art: sculpture, music and literature.
What are the paintings of the impressionists
Impressionism is focused on the image and the impression that it gives the viewer. Impressionist paintings most often depict ordinary scenes from life: urban bustle or landscapes. Their works give the audience those fleeting impressions that the painters themselves experienced. Impressionism does not notice problems or negativity, it shows exclusively the positive aspects of life.
Mostly in the paintings you can see such subjects as picnics, boating, dancing, tea drinking, outdoor fun and other joys of life. The people in the paintings were not frozen, but moving, playing, laughing most often depicted by the impressionists. Pictures allow us to plunge into the living reality of past centuries, to see what kind of environment surrounded people of the XIX century.
Features of the paintings of impressionists
The talent for reflecting on the canvas an instant first impression is the main feature of all artists. They always worked from nature, without any sketches, capturing and conveying the general mood. The paintings of the impressionists do not carry a deep meaning or hidden content, they depict everyday life, but they do it not just, but masterfully. When looking at such paintings, the viewer immediately appears a certain thought or emotion, which remains for some time after viewing.
Impressionists developed a special writing style. The paintings painted by them are most often distinguished by fuzzy lines and individual strokes of the primary colors. The fact is that they conveyed all colors with a standard set of colors, skillfully putting strokes. They paid much attention to the play of light, sun rays and shadows, and tried to create contrast. The picture by O. Renoir "Ball at the Moulins de la Galette" (1876) can serve as indicative in this regard.
Great impressionists of the past
Since the creation of the movement, there have been many artists who have worked in the style of impressionism, but very few can be called truly great. So, the most famous impressionist artists are C. Monet, O. Renoir, A. Sisley and K. Pissarro. In general, impressionism as a trend was especially popular at the end of the 19th century, it was then that true masters created.
This trend in painting was the beginning, the inspiration for other no less famous artists - V. van Gogh, P. Cezanne, P. Gauguin. These artists became the founders of post-impressionism, which made it their goal to abandon the image of real life, the transition to the image of its foundations.
Modern impressionists
Do not think that the direction ceased to exist after its heyday. There are still artists who choose impressionism for their work.
Pictures of modern impressionists cause no less admiration than canvases of the past. To date, many masters create in this genre, however, one of them is most worthy of this title, time will tell. Nevertheless, there are several artists, the paintings are positioned as paintings by the Impressionists. Photos of their work are presented below.
Take, for example, an artist named Kent R. Wallis. His canvases are distinguished by bright, saturated colors, with the help of which he creates magnificent landscapes.
The paintings of the artist I.J. Casseroles (EJ Paprocki).
In his canvases, flowers, leaves and other small elements are performed very realistically, while the rest of the background is done with strokes. This allows him to convey the beauty of the details and at the same time the general first impressions characteristic of impressionism.