Starting page

Impressionism

links to various aspects

Introduction:
Walther writes ‘it’s not easy to define’ Impressionism (R3,p94). I think it helps to to discern Impressionim firstly as a painting style and secondly as an art-movement, see link for more info. On this starting page you will find links to all sorts of information on Impressionism. And also on Pre-Impressionism; Para-Impressionism; Neo-Impressionism; Post-Impressionism and Meta-Impressionism.

 

Impressionism as a painting style, various aspects:
When we see Impressionism as a painting style, we can discern various aspects.

• starting page.
• +/- painting en-plein-air.
• -/- Sketchlike painting.
• -/- Vibrant brushstrokes.
• -/- Bright Colours.
• -/- Purple shades.
• -/- Colourful white.
• -/- Filtered light.
• -/- Impressionist portraits.
• Between about 1886 and 1914 many other (foreign) artists also used an impressionist painting style. In the future I will add some of them paintings.

Impressionism as an art-movement:
When we see Impressionism as an art-movement we can discern various aspects.

• starting page.
• Did the artist (often) partake in the 8 ‘impressionist’ expositions?
• Was the artist in a broader sense dedicated to independant group exhibitions?
• +/- The ‘impressionists’ did meet each other at various places.
• +/- The ‘impressionists’ did paint together.
• -/- chronology of meeting and painting together (not yet published).
• +/- The ‘impressionists’ did portray each otheror were portrayed.
• +/- The ‘impressionists’ owned each others works.
• +/- What circles of friends can we discern?
  Who were most active within these circles?

Various aspects of Impressionism:

• Why were the Impressionists called ‘impressionists’?
• Were the partakers of the 8 ‘impressionist’ expositions impressionists?
  Were they part of the ‘impressionist’ art-movement in France from about 1863-1886?
  Did they paint in an impressionist painting style?
  See also the main pages on the partaking artists in the left (or bottom) menu.
• Who were the main Impressionists?
• There are many myths repeated on Impressionism. Aspects that are partly true are exaggerated, thus creating a one-sided view on Impressionism.

Pre-Impressionism:
I define Pre-Impressionism in different ways, from more specific to a more broader definition:

• All the artists that inspired the Impressionists, like Jongkind, Courbet, Corot and other Barbizon painters.
• Artists, more in the past, that inspired the Impressionists, like the English landscape painters.
• Landscape painters that used just some elements of the impressionist painting style and being active namely in the 2nd half of the 19th century in France.
• Later on I will also include foreign landscape painters that used just some elements of the impressionist painting style and being active between 1855 and 1914.

Para-Impressionism:
I define Para-Impressionism in different ways, from more specific to a more broader definition:

• Those artists that were (to be) invited to join the ‘impressionist’ expositions, but didn’t do so.
• Those artists that joined (international) exhibitions that were called “impressionists“, like the exhibition “Works in Oil and Pastel by the Impressionists of Paris“ in New York in 1886.
• Those artists that had close relationships to the (main) ‘impressionists’.
• I also include Naturalism as art-movement that was also prominent in about the same years as Impressionism.
• I also include Realism. Realism partly can be seen as a pre-impressionist art-movement starting with Courbet and prominent in the years before 1874. But many partakers of the ‘impressionist’ expositions used many elements of the realist painting style and many para-impressionists, like Manet, also did.

Neo-Impressionism:
Neo-Impressionism knows various aspects:

• Pointillism is a specific technique often used within the earlier years of Neo-Impressionism. ‘a Sunday afternoon on the island of Grande Jatte‘ exhibited by Georges Seurat at the 8th ‘impressionist’ exposition in 1886 is the most important painting in which pointillism is used.
  This systhematic approach, of Seurat and others, is also called Scientific Impressionism.
• The principal element of the neo-impressionist method was not the point but the division of tones, giving simultaneous contrasts. So, Divisionism is the dominant technique within Neo-Impressionism. Also sweeping brushstrokes and mosaic like brushstrokes were used. The artist that most consequently used this technique was Paul Signac.
• The Salon des Indépendants, that started in 1884, namely in the earlier years, gave room for neo-impressionist painters. And also the exhibitions of Les XX in Brussels.
• I will namely include artists that for a significant period used divisionist techniques.
• Several artists partly or just shortly used divisionist techniques, like Camille and Lucien Pissarro.

Post-Impressionism:

• Post-Impressionism is not a painting style, but gathers artists that were (partly) inspired by Impressionism and in turn inspired Fauvist and Cubist artists. In time you could say between 1886 and 1905.
• The most important Post-Impressionists are Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh.
• A specific art-movement that was dominant in this period was Symbolism, that contained several art-movements or groups like: the Pont-Aven school; Cloisonnism; Synthetism and Les Nabis.
• Important post-impressionist exhibitions were: the exhibition at Volpini in 1889; expositions held by the ‘peintres Impressionnistes et Symbolistes’ (=EIS) in the Gallery of Le Barc de Boutteville (1891-1897); the Salon de la Rose+Croix (1892-1897).
• Note: I will not include Neo-Impressionism, because this is a specific art-movement and also strongly related to Impressionism.

Meta-Impressionism:

• I define Meta-Impressionism as the art-world surrounding the ‘impressionists’.
• Meta-Impressionism includes Pre-Impressionism, Para-Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism and Post-Impressionism.
• Meta-Impressionism includes the Salon, it’s successor of the Société des Artistes Français, the Expositions Universelle and also other exhibitions of which some are mentioned above.
• Meta-Impressionism includes earlier art-movements like Néo-Classicism and Romanticism.
• Meta-Impressionism includes the establishment of the art-world in the second half of the 19th century in France, namely L’Institut, the École des Beaux-Arts and the art-workshops. This establishment is maintained by the Prix de Rome and all sorts of awards.
• Meta-Impressionism includes the art-dealers, namely Durand-Ruel and Georges Petit, the art-collectors and the art-critics.
• Meta-Impressionism also includes social and political developments.

 

Additional references (=aRx):

1. en.wikipedia.com//impressionism (article on Impressionism; =iR3)
2. Thoughtco.com/183262 (article on Impressionism as an art-movement; =iR417)
3. artchive.com//impressionism (article on Impressionism as an art-movement; =iR202)
4. khanacademy.org//impressionism (part of a course on art-history; by Beth Gersh-Nesic; =iR430)
5. x

 

Recommanded citation: “Impressionism: starting page linking to various aspects. Last modified 2024/01/09.  https://www.impressionism.nl/starting-page-impressionism/.”

Note: additional info will be added.