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IMPRESSIONISM IN FINE ART
Impressionism began in France in the late 1800s. While Impressionist paintings may not seem rebellious now, the movement was considered radical in the 19th century. At the time, the Académie des Beaux-Arts, an academic art association in Paris, set the rules for what was considered acceptable in French art.
Realism and classical subject matters were the standards. In contrast, the Impressionists were considered to be stylistically “sloppy” or unfinished. Yet, this lack of exact detail was exactly what these painters were after.
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The invention of the paint tube in 1841 allowed artists the freedom to get out of their studios to paint in the open air with ready-mixed colors. This Plein Air style allowed them to quickly create studies as the light changed. The Impressionists sought to capture the interplay of sunlight and color by painting as rapidly as possible, with less adherence to replicating an exact scene.
The focus on brighter colors and short brushstrokes resulted in works that evoked emotion through movement and shape rather than the historical and mythological narratives that were popular during the time period. These paintings were intentionally meant to be impressions of what the artist saw in the present moment, rather than relying on the archetypes of the past.
Impressionism and photography intersected very early on because the first exhibition of the works of these innovative painters was held at the studio of the portrait photographer Felix Nadar in 1874. Most of the showcased works had been rejected by the Académie, yet they included paintings by some of the most important artists in art history by today’s standards – Monet, Sisley, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Cassatt, and Pissarro, to name a few. Degas was also fond of using photography to plan his compositions before beginning his paintings. Even though the Impressionist’s style was mocked by critics, it soon found its permanent place in art history.