MODERN ART:

IMPRESSIONISM
QUARTER 1- SESSION 1
MODERN ARTS
• Give some
qualities/
characteristics of
Modern Arts
MODERN ARTS
• Tell how modern
arts differ from
the earlier styles
of art that you
know
MODERN ARTS
• Describe the
movement
known as
IMPESSIONISM
MODERN ARTS
• Name famous
impressionist
• Recognize well-
known artworks in
the impressionist
style
 Quick
glance

partial impression unclear

incomplete
IMPRESSIONISM
An art movement that emerged in the
second half of the 19 th century among a
group of Paris-based artist
From 1872 to the mid-1880s
Short duration but tremendous impact and
influence on the painting style that followed
such as neo-impressionism, post-
impressionism, fauvism and cubism—and
even the artistic style and movements of
today
IMPRESSIONISM was coined from the title of a work
by a french painter CLAUDE MONET, Impression,
soleil levant (in English, Impression, Sunrise)
The term precisely captured what this group of artists
sought to represent in their works: THE VIEWER’S
MOMENTARY “IMPRESSION” OF AN IMAGE
The Influence of Delacroix
One major influence on IMPRESSIONISM
was the work of French painter Eugène
Delacroix. Delacroix was greatly admired
and emulated by the early impressionists—
specifically for his use of expressive
brushstrokes, his emphasis on movement
rather than on clarity of form, and most of all
his study of the optical effects of color
The Barque of Dante
Eugène Delacroix, 1822
Oil on canvas
The painting is loosely based on a fictional scene from Dante’s Inferno,
showing Dante and the poet Virgil crossing hell’s River Styx, while
tormented souls struggle to climb aboard their boat. It is the drops of water
running down the bodies of these doomed souls (see enlarged detail below)
that are painted in a manner almost never used in Delacroix’s time.

In particular, delacroix’s painting,

THE BARQUE OF DANTE,
contained a then revolutionary
technique that would profoundly
influence the coming
impressionist movement. And it
involved something as simple as
droplets of water.
 THE INFLUENCE OF DELACROIX

When studied closely, it is seen

that four different, unmixed
pigments—yellow, green, red,
and white—create the image of
each drop and its shadow.

The Barque of Dante (1822)

Viewed from a little distance,these colors blend to
represent individual drops glistening with light. The
distinct colors merge in the eye of the viewer to appear
monochromatic (single-colored) or, in this case of water
droplets, colorless. In short, an impression is formed.
Impressionism:
A Break from Past Painting Traditions
there were several areas in which
impressionist artists moved away from
the established practices of art at that
time. These involved their use of color,
choice of subject matter and setting,
and technique for capturing light and
conveying movement
COLOR AND LIGHT
IN CONTRAST WITH the earlier style of
painting, the impressionists painted with
freely brushed colors that conveyed more of
a visual effect than a detailed rendering of
the subject. They used short “broken” strokes
that were intentionally made visible to the viewer.
They also often placed pure unmixed colors side
by side, rather than blended smoothly or shaded.
The result was a feeling of energy and intensity, as
the colors appeared to shift and move—again, just
as they do in reality.
“EVERYDAY” SUBJECTS

 Impressionists also began to break away from the

creation of formally posed portraits and grandiose
depictions of mythical, literary, historical, or religious
subjects.
 They ventured into capturing scenes of life around
them, household objects, landscapes and seascapes,
houses, cafes, and buildings. They presented ordinary
people seemingly caught off-guard doing everyday
tasks, at work or at leisure, or doing nothing at all. And
they were not made to look beautiful or lifelike, as
body parts could be distorted and facial features
merely suggested by a few strokes of the brush.
PAINTING OUTDOORS

 The location in which the impressionists

painted was also different. Previously, still
lifes, portraits, and landscapes were
usually painted inside a studio.
However, the impressionists found that
they could best capture the ever-
changing effects of light on color by
painting outdoors in natural light.
OPEN COMPOSITION
Impressionist painting also moved away
from the formal, structured approach to
placing and positioning their subjects.
They experimented with unusual visual
angles, sizes of objects that appeared
out of proportion, off-center placement,
and empty spaces on the canvas.
THE INFLUENCE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
 Photography was in its early stages at
this time as well. As it gained popularity,
photography inspired impressionists to
capture fleeting moments of action,
whether in landscapes or in the day-to-
day lives of people.
 Impressionists had the advantage of
manipulating color, which photography at
that time still lacked.
WHAT TO KNOW
1.How did the term impressionism originate? What did it mean?
2. In what country did this art movement begin, and in what period
ofhistory?
3. What was the significance of the painting technique used by
Delacroix in the development of the impressionist style?
4. What characteristics distinguished impressionism from the art
movements of the earlier centuries? Cite and briefly describe at
least three of these characteristics.
5. How was the impressionist style influenced by the early stages
of photography?
WHAT TO PROCESS
To help you understand the revolutionary technique for applying
color introduced by the impressionists, experiment with this
simplified process:
1. Take a set of watercolors (cake type or in tubes). Choose one
secondary color: orange, green, or violet.
2. Color a shape on a paper using this single secondary color.
3. Beside it, color a similar shape using strokes of the two primary
colors that are combined in that particular secondary color (ex: red
+ yellow = orange; blue + yellow = green; red + blue = violet).
4. Hold the paper some distance away and ask your classmates to
comment on the “impression” of the secondary color you have
created and the actual color itself.