The word impression usually signifies a thought or a feeling that we have about a person, place or something someone said or did. Of course, our memories are often challenged and what we remember is unreliable or too vague to grasp the complete picture. Nevertheless, our pursuit continues as we seek more clues. While we might ask others for help, the search does not always end well. We have to rely on what we have left. Certainly, we hope that the impressions we formed are advantageous and reliable. In art, the notion has a different corollary. Today Impressionism refers to a form of artistic production that is admired and appreciated broadly. This level of appreciation has not always been the norm. When the artists who we identify as Impressionists today were creating their special canvases in the mid to late 1800s, they were unfavorably criticized. Critics of that time decried that they were painting impressions and not reality and/or beautiful subjects. Consequently, the descriptive label Impressionism was derogatory in nature but the concept evolved over time. The term caught on and tastes changed. Today people will stand in long lines to see exhibitions by Eduard Manet, Claude Monet, and Auguste Renoir, among many others who are celebrated as Impressionists.
By Terri B.
Culturally Speaking...
Impressions‌ The Arts and Spring
