Impressionism was an art movement that emerged in the second half of the 19th century among a group of

Paris-based artists. The duration of the impressionist movement itself was quite short, less
than 20 years from 1872 to the mid-1880s. But it had a tremendous impact and influence on
the painting styles that followed, such as neo-impressionism, post-impressionism, fauvism,
and cubism—and even the artistic styles and movements of today.
Claude Monet French painter that coined from the title of his work Impression, soleil levant (in English,
Impression, Sunrise).
impression It was not intended to be clear or precise, but more like a fleeting fragment of reality caught
on canvas, sometimes in mid-motion, at other times awkwardly positioned—just as it would
be in real life.
Eugène Delacroix Is a French painter use of expressive brushstrokes, his emphasis on movement rather than on
clarity of form, and most of all his study of the optical effects of color.
The Barque of Dante Delacroix’s painting contained a then revolutionary technique that would profoundly
influence the coming impressionist movement. And it involved something as simple as
droplets of water.
The Barque of Dante The painting is loosely based on a fictional scene from Dante’s Inferno, showing Dante and
the poet Virgil crossing hell’s River Styx, while tormented souls struggle to climb aboard
their boat. It is the drops of water running down the bodies of these doomed souls that are
painted in a manner almost never used in Delacroix’s time.
monochromatic single-colored
Color and Light They used short “broken” strokes that were intentionally made visible to the viewer. They
also often placed pure unmixed colors side by side, rather than blended smoothly or shaded.
The result was a feeling of energy and intensity, as the colors appeared to shift and move—
again, just as they do in reality.
“Everyday” Subjects They ventured into capturing scenes of life around them, household objects, landscapes and
seascapes, houses, cafes, and buildings. They presented ordinary people seemingly caught
off-guard doing everyday tasks, at work or at leisure, or doing nothing at all. And they were
not made to look beautiful or lifelike, as body parts could be distorted and facial features
merely suggested by a few strokes of the brush.
Painting Outdoors The location in which the impressionists painted was also different. The impressionists found
that they could best capture the ever-changing effects of light on
color by painting outdoors in natural light. This gave their works a freshness and immediacy
that was quite a change from the stiffer, heavier, more planned paintings of earlier masters.
Open Composition Impressionist painting also moved away from the formal, structured approach to placing and
positioning their subjects. They experimented with unusual visual angles,
sizes of objects that appeared out of proportion, off-center placement, and empty spaces on
the canvas.
The Influence of As it gained popularity, photography inspired impressionists to capture fleeting moments of
Photography action, whether in landscapes or in the day-to-day lives of people. But whereas camera
snapshots provided objective, true-to-life images, the artists were able to offer a subjective
view of their subjects, expressing their personal perceptions rather than creating exact
representations. They also had the advantage of manipulating color, which photography at
that time still lacked.
Edouard Manet (1832-1883) was one of the first 19th century artists to depict modern-life subjects. He was a
key figure in the transition from realism to impressionism, with a number of his works
considered as marking the birth of modern art.
Claude Monet (1840-1926) was one of the founders of the impressionist movement along with his friends
Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Frédéric Bazille. He was the most prominent of the
group; and is considered the most influential figure in the movement. Monet is best known
for his landscape paintings, particularly those
depicting his beloved flower gardens and water lily ponds at his home in Giverny.
Auguste Renoir His early works were snapshots of real life, full of sparkling color and light. By the mid-
1880s, however, Renoir broke away from the impressionist movement to apply a more
disciplined, formal technique to portraits of actual people and figure paintings.
post-impressionism The European artists who were at the forefront of this movement continued using the basic
qualities of the impressionists before them—the vivid colors, heavy brush strokes, and true-
 to-life subjects. However, they expanded and experimented with these in bold new ways, like
using a geometric approach, fragmenting objects and distorting people’s faces and body
parts, and applying colors that were not necessarily realistic or natural.
Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) was a French artist and post-impressionist painter. His work exemplified the
transition from late 19th-century impressionism to a new and radically different world of art
in the 20th century—paving the way for the next revolutionary art movement known as
expressionism.
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) was a post-impressionist painter from The Netherlands. His works were
remarkable for their strong, heavy brush strokes, intense emotions, and colors that appeared
to almost pulsate with energy. Van Gogh’s striking style was to have a far-reaching influence
on 20th century art, with his works becoming among the most recognized in the world.
Expressionism created works with more emotional force, rather than with realistic or natural images. To
achieve this, they distorted outlines, applied strong colors, and exaggerated forms. They
worked more with their imagination and feelings, rather than with what their eyes saw in the
physical world.
various styles of Neoprimitivism, fauvism, Dadaism, surrealism and social realism
expressionism
Neoprimitivism was an art style that incorporated elements from the native arts of the South Sea Islanders
and the wood carvings of African tribes which suddenly became popular at that time.
Amedeo Modigliani Western artists who Neoprimitivism elements, who used the oval faces and elongated shapes
of African art in both his sculptures and paintings.
Fauvism was a style that used bold, vibrant colors and visual distortions. Its name was derived from
les fauves (“wild beasts”), referring to the group of French expressionist painters who painted
in this style.
Henri Matisse Known French expressionist who painted fauvism
Dadaism was a style characterized by dream fantasies, memory images, and visual tricks and surprises
Marc Chagall and Giorgio Painters known using Dadaism style.
de Chirico
Melancholy and Mystery of Although the works appeared playful, the movement arose from the pain that a group of
a Street and I and the European artists felt after the suffering brought by World War I. Wishing to protest against
Village the civilization that had brought on such horrors, these artists rebelled against established
norms and authorities, and against the traditional styles in art. They chose the child’s term for
hobbyhorse, dada, to refer to their new “non-style.”
Surrealism was a style that depicted an illogical, subconscious dream world beyond the logical,
conscious, physical one. Its name came from the term “super realism,” with its artworks
clearly expressing a departure from reality—as though the artists were dreaming, seeing
illusions, or experiencing an altered mental state.
social realism expressed the artist’s role in social reform here, artists used their works to protest against the
injustices, inequalities, immorality, and ugliness of the human condition.
Ben Shahn’s Miners’ Wives Spoke out against the hazardous conditions faced by coal miners, after a tragic accident
killed 111 workers in Illinois in 1947, leaving their wives and children in mourning.
Pablo Picasso’s Guernica has been recognized as the most monumental and comprehensive statement of social realism
against the brutality of war. Filling one wall of the Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 World’s Fair
in Paris, it was Picasso’s outcry against the German air raid of the town of Guernica in his
native Spain.
Cubism Created in the mid-1900s, Guernica combined artistic elements developed in the earlier
decades with those still to come. It made use of the exaggeration, distortion, and shock
technique of expressionism.
Abstractionism Another group of artistic styles emerged at the same time as the expressionist movement. It
had the same spirit of freedom of expression and openness that characterized life in the 20th
century, but it differed from expressionism in certain ways.
Pablo Picasso Spanish painter/sculptor, the cubist style derived its name from the cube, a three dimensional
geometric figure composed of strictly measured lines, planes, and angles. Cubist artworks
were, therefore, a play of planes and angles on a flat surface.
Futurism The movement known as futurism began in Italy in the early 1900s. As the name implies, the
futurists created art for a fast-paced, machine-propelled age. They admired the motion, force,
 speed, and strength of mechanical forms.
Mechanical Style As a result of the futurist movement, what became known as the mechanical style emerged.
In this style, basic forms such as planes, cones, spheres, and cylinders all fit together
precisely and neatly in their appointed places.
Nonobjectivism The logical geometrical conclusion of abstractionism came in the style known as
nonobjectivism. From the very term “non-object,” works in this style did not make use of
figures or even representations of figures. They did not refer to recognizable objects or forms
in the outside world.
abstract expressionism The result was the establishment of what came to be known as “The New York School”—as
opposed to “The School of Paris” that had been very influential in Europe. The daring young
artists in this movement succeeded in creating their own synthesis of Europe’s cubist and
surrealist styles.
action painting One form of abstract expressionism was seen in the works of Jackson Pollock.
Jackson Pollock worked on huge canvases spread on the floor, splattering, squirting, and dribbling paint with
(seemingly) no pre-planned pattern or design in mind. The total effect is one of vitality,
creativity, “energy made visible.” Pollock’s first one-man show in New York in 1943
focused worldwide attention on abstract expressionism for the first time.
Color Field Painting In contrast to the vigorous gestures of the action painters, another group of artists who came
to be known as “color field painters” used different color saturations (purity, vividness,
intensity) to create their desired effects. Some of their works were huge fields of vibrant
color—as in the paintings of Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman.
pictograph filling the canvas with repeating picture fragments or symbols—as in the works of Adolph
Gottlieb and Lee Krasner.
After “The New York By the early 1960s, the momentum of The New York School slowed down. In its place, a
School” new crop of artists came on the scene using lighter treatment and flashes of humor, even
irreverence, in their artworks.
The movements they neodadaism and pop art, conceptual art, op art and the new realism
brought about have come to
be called:
Neodadaism wanted to make reforms in traditional values. It also made use of commonplace, trivial, even
nonsensical objects. The neodadaists seemed to enjoy nonsense for its own sake and simply
wanted to laugh at the world. Their works ranged from paintings, to posters, to collages, to
three-dimensional “assemblages” and installations.
Andy Warhol inspirations were the celebrities, advertisements, billboards, and comic strips that
we’re becoming commonplace at that time.
Roy Lichtenstein was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and
James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in this new art movement.
Conceptual Art arose in the mind of the artist, took concrete form for a time, and then disappeared (unless it
was captured in photo or film documentation). Conceptualists questioned the idea of art as
objects to be bought and sold. Instead, they brought their artistic ideas to life temporarily,
using such unusual materials as grease, blocks of ice, food, even just plain dirt.
optical art or “op art.” This was yet another experiment in visual experience—a form of “action painting,” with the
action taking place in the viewer’s eye. In op art, lines, spaces, and colors were precisely
planned and positioned to give the illusion of movement.
Installation art is a contemporary art form that uses sculptural materials and other media to modify the way
the viewer experiences a particular space. Usually lifesize or sometimes even larger,
installation art is not necessarily confined to gallery spaces. It can be constructed or
positioned in everyday public or private spaces, both indoor and outdoor.
Performance art is a form of modern art in which the actions of an individual or a group at a particular place
and in a particular time constitute the work. It can happen anywhere, at any time, or for any
length of time. It can be any situation that involves four basic elements:
time
space
the performer’s body
a relationship between performer and audience.