Impressionism / themes:

Time of day

Starting page

with links to seperate pages

 

Introduction:
Typical for the impressionist painting style is to render the influence of (sun)light on the colours at a specific time of day. On this starting page we will walk through the day from sunrise, to morning, to noon, to afternoon, to sunset, to dusk / twilight, to evening, to moonlight. You will also be linked to seperate pages, where impressionist works will be compared with pre-impressionist, neo-impressionist and post-impressionist paintings.

 

Sunrise (soleil levant):
Famous is Claude Monet his painting ‘Impression, soleil levant’, that was shown at the 1st ‘impressionist’ exposition in 1874. It was Castagnary who explicitly connected the term “Impressionism” to this painting (and not Leroy). But, the impressionists didn’t depict the rising sun that often, surely not compared with the setting sun. And the painting of Monet is quite greyish and in that sense not fully impressionistic. Cals renders the yellow glow of (probably) the rising sun. Isidore Dagnan beautifully depicts the first rays of sunlight in a streetscene, leaving most of the colours more subdued.

Morning (matin):
Morning effect or morning are subtitles in paintings of the impressionists. Often the twilight of the early morning is rendered; these paintings you will find with the sunrise page.

Noon (midi):
At noon, at 12 o’clock, the sun is at it’s peak. The impressionists hardly depicted this fullness of sunlight. Maybe, it is because ‘light dissolves colour’. Noon often is lunchtime. This is more often depicted. Ernest-Ange Duez beautifully renders the warmth of the sunlight and the coolness of the shade. His brushstroke is more smooth and he renders details, in this sense not fully impressionistic.

 

Afternoon (après midi):
The afternoon is the time of day in which the impressionists depicted the effect of abundant sunlight. Often together with the shades caused by the leaves of the trees, see also (leaves) filtered light. At first in more pre-impressionist paintings, these shades are more greyish (like in the painting of Colin), later on blues and purples are used (like in the painting of Sisley). In the sunny afternoon of Pissarro the clouds help to render a variation of colours, namely also in the sky.

Sunset (soleil couchant):
The sunset at the end of the day maybe is the most favourite time of day for the impressionists. It is depicted very often rendering a kaleidoscope of colours, beautifully rendered by example Guillaumin and Lebourg. Albert Rigolot also beautifully renders the end of a day, but his colours stay more natural and subdued. Eugène Isabey beautifully renders the effect of sunset on the clouds in the distance, leaving the landscape in the front in more subdued colours.

 

Dusk / twilight (crépuscule):
Twilight or dusk is the time that the sun has set, but still renders it’s last rays of light. It is beautifully depicted by the Impressionists, but also by para-impressionists, like Jules Breton.

Evening (soir):
Many works with the title ‘evening’ in it, depict twilight. The sun still renders it’s last rays of light. Sisley often did so. The Italian painter Giovanni Segantini clearly renders these last rays. The shaded landscape in front is rendered in more subdued colours.

Night; moonlight (clair de lune):
The night (la nuit) is black, except when the moonlight (and the stars) gives colour to the vaguely visible objects. This theme was more used by pre-impressionists, than by impressionist. Probably because the night subdues the colours. See the examples of Jongkind, Lépine and J.F. Millet.

Artificial light:
In the evenening and night artificial light was used. Candles, oil lamps, gas light and later electric light. Depicting this light and the effect on the colours is an impressionist theme. Still, this was not often depicted by the impressionists. Cals did quite often and some he showed at the Salon. But often he used variations of brown and subdued colours. Lebourg often depicted it in his drawings. Here below I will render some examples in oil painting. The German painter Fritz von Uhde depicts the light better and in a more impressionist way than Degas and Forain. The English painter Stanhope Forbes renders the effect of fire light in a fabric, using many variations of brownish colours.
The more traditional painters used artificial light to render an chiaroscuro effect.

 

Time of day, serie:
Some artists made a serie of the time of day, namely the Pre-Impressionist, Corot. So, rendering the time of day, isn’t unique for the impressionist painting style.

 

Sources:
My main sources are .
See links for other general references (=R), internet sites (=iR) and musea (=M). For other additional references (=aR) see below. See links for practical hints and abbreviations and for the subscription of the paintings.

Further readings:
x

Additional references (=aRx):

2. x

 

 

Recommanded citation: Impressionism / themes: time of day; starting page. Last modified 2025/02/18. https://www.impressionism.nl/time-of-day/”

 

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