Impressionism At A Glance

Began: Early 1972
Ended: Early 1892

     Impressionism is a style of art that does not rely on realistic deceptions. It is considered to the the first modern movement in painting. Impressionism gained its name from a French critic, who was reviewing the artisits' first major exhibit, focusing on "Impression, Sunrise" (1873) a painting by Claude Monet. The critic accused them of painting nothing but impressions. The artists soon embraced the name given, and also referred to themselves as Independents.
     Impressionism developed in Paris in the 1860s, and spread thought out Europe and the United States. The artists that originated Impressionism, were shunned by the powerful academic art institutions . Impressionist also rejected the Salon, which is the official, government sanctioned exhibit.
     Contemporary science had begun to recognize that what the eye perceived and what the brain understood where two different things. The impressionist aimed to capture the impact of the scene. Sot they loosened their brushstrokes and lightened their color palettes with pure, intense colors. To avoid the clarity of form, which in earlier art had served to distinguish the more from the less important elements of the picture, they abandoned traditional perspective. This caused many critics to accuse the Impressionists of painting unfinished or amateur work.