Impressionism (fr. impressionnisme, from impression- impression) - a movement in the art of the last third of the 19th - early 20th centuries, which originated in France and then spread throughout the world, whose representatives sought to develop methods and techniques that made it possible to capture the most naturally and vividly real world in its mobility and variability, to convey your fleeting impressions. Usually the term “impressionism” refers to a direction in painting (but this is, first of all, a group of methods), although its ideas also found their embodiment in literature and music, where impressionism also appeared in a certain set of methods and techniques for creating literary and musical works, in which the authors sought to convey life in a sensual, direct form, as a reflection of their impressions

The artist’s task at that time was to depict reality as believably as possible, without showing the artist’s subjective feelings. If he was ordered ceremonial portrait- then it was necessary to show the customer in a favorable light: without deformities, stupid facial expressions, etc. If it was a religious plot, then it was necessary to evoke a feeling of awe and amazement. If it’s a landscape, then show the beauty of nature. However, if the artist despised the rich man who ordered the portrait, or was an unbeliever, then there was no choice and all that remained was to develop his own unique technique and hope for luck. However, in the second half of the nineteenth century, photography began to actively develop and realistic painting began to gradually move aside, since even then it was extremely difficult to convey reality as believably as in a photograph.

In many ways, with the advent of the Impressionists, it became clear that art can have value as the subjective representation of the author. After all, each person perceives reality differently and reacts to it in their own way. It’s all the more interesting to see how in the eyes different people reflects reality and what emotions they experience.

The artist now has an incredible number of opportunities for self-expression. Moreover, self-expression itself has become much freer: take a non-standard plot, theme, tell something other than religious or historical topics, use your own unique technique, etc. For example, the impressionists wanted to express a fleeting impression, the first emotion. This is why their work is vague and seemingly unfinished. This was done in order to show an instant impression, when objects had not yet taken shape in the mind and only slight shimmers of light, halftones and blurry contours were visible. Myopic people will understand me) imagine that you have not yet seen the object in its entirety, you see it from afar or simply do not look closely, but you have already formed some kind of impression about it. If you try to depict this, it is likely that you will end up with something like impressionist paintings. Some kind of sketch. That’s why it turned out that for the impressionists, what was more important was not what was depicted, but how.

The main representatives of this genre in painting were: Monet, Manet, Sisley, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne. Separately, it is necessary to note Umlyam Turner as their predecessor.

Speaking of the plot:

Their paintings presented only the positive aspects of life, without touching on social problems, including hunger, disease, and death. This later led to a split among the Impressionists themselves.

Color schemes

The Impressionists paid great attention to color, fundamentally abandoning dark shades, especially black. Such attention to the color scheme of their works brought color itself to a very important place in the picture and pushed further generations of artists and designers to be attentive to color as such.

Composition

The impressionist composition was reminiscent of Japanese painting, complex compositional schemes were used, other canons (not golden ratio or center). In general, the structure of the picture has become more often asymmetrical, more complex and interesting from this point of view.

Composition among the Impressionists began to have a more independent meaning; it became one of the subjects of painting, in contrast to the classical one, where it more often (but not always) played the role of a scheme according to which any work was built. At the end of the 19th century, it became clear that this was a dead end, and the composition itself could carry certain emotions and support the plot of the picture.

Forerunners

El Greco - because he used similar techniques in applying paint and acquired the color from him symbolic meaning. He also distinguished himself with a very original manner and individuality, which is what the impressionists also strived for.

Japanese engraving - because it gained great popularity in Europe in those years and showed that a picture can be built according to completely different rules than the classical canons of European art. This applies to composition, use of color, detailing, etc. Also, in Japanese and generally oriental drawings and engravings, everyday scenes were much more often depicted, which was almost absent in European art.

Meaning

The Impressionists left a bright mark on world art by developing unique techniques letters and having a huge influence on all subsequent generations of artists with their bright and memorable works, protest against the classical school and unique work with color. Striving for maximum spontaneity and accuracy in conveying the visible world, they began to paint mainly in the open air and raised the importance of sketches from life, which almost replaced traditional type paintings carefully and slowly created in the studio.

Consistently clarifying their palette, the Impressionists freed painting from earthy and brown varnishes and paints. Conventional, “museum” blackness in their canvases gives way to an infinitely diverse play of reflexes and colored shadows. They immeasurably expanded the possibilities of fine art, opening not only the world of sun, light and air, but also the beauty of London fogs, the restless atmosphere of life big city, the scattering of its night lights and the rhythm of incessant movement.

Due to the very method of working in the open air, the landscape, including the city landscape they discovered, occupied a very important place in the art of the Impressionists. One should not, however, assume that their painting was characterized only by a “landscape” perception of reality, for which they were often reproached. The thematic and plot range of their work was quite wide. Interest in people, and especially in modern life France, in a broad sense, was characteristic of a number of representatives of this trend. His life-affirming, fundamentally democratic pathos clearly opposed the bourgeois world order.

At the same time, impressionism and, as we will see later, post-impressionism are two sides, or rather, two successive time stages of that fundamental change that marked the boundary between the art of New and Contemporary times. In this sense, impressionism, on the one hand, completes the development of everything after renaissance art, the leading principle of which was the reflection of the surrounding world in visually reliable forms of reality itself, and on the other hand, it is the beginning of the largest revolution in the history of fine art since the Renaissance, which laid the foundations for a qualitatively new stage -

art of the twentieth century.

For me, the impressionism style is, first of all, something airy, ephemeral, inexorably elusive. This is that stunning moment that the eye barely has time to capture and which then remains in the memory for a long time as a moment of highest harmony. The masters of impressionism were famous for their ability to easily transfer this moment of beauty onto canvas, endowing it with tangible sensations and subtle vibrations that, with all reality, arise when interacting with a painting. When you look at the works of outstanding artists of this style, there is always a certain aftertaste of mood.

Impressionism(from impression - impression) is an art movement that originated in France in the late 1860s. Its representatives sought to capture the real world in its mobility and variability in the most natural and unbiased way, and to convey their fleeting impressions. Special attention paid attention to the transmission of color and light.

The word "impressionism" comes from the title of Monet's painting Impression. Sunrise, presented at the 1874 exhibition. The little-known journalist Louis Leroy in his magazine article called the artists “impressionists” to express his disdain. However, the name stuck and lost its original negative meaning.

The first important exhibition of the Impressionists took place from April 15 to May 15, 1874 in the studio of the photographer Nadar. 30 artists were presented there, with a total of 165 works. Young artists were reproached for “unfinished” and “sloppy painting,” lack of taste and meaning in their work, “an attack on true art,” rebellious sentiments and even immorality.

Leading representatives of impressionism are Alfred Sisley and Frederic Bazille. Edouard Manet and Eduard Manet exhibited their paintings with them. Joaquin Sorolla is also considered an impressionist.

Landscapes and scenes from city life are perhaps the most characteristic genres impressionistic painting - painted “in the open air”, i.e. directly from nature, and not on the basis of sketches and preparatory sketches. Impressionists looked closely at nature, noticing colors and shades usually invisible, such as blue in the shadows.

Their artistic method consisted of decomposing complex tones into their constituent pure colors of the spectrum. The results were colored shadows and pure, light, vibrant painting. The Impressionists applied paint in separate strokes, sometimes using contrasting tones in one area of ​​the painting. The main feature of impressionist paintings is the effect of living flickering of colors.

To convey changes in the color of an object, the impressionists began to prefer to use colors that mutually reinforce each other: red and green, yellow and purple, orange and blue. These same colors create the effect of consistent contrast. For example, if we look at red for a while and then move our gaze to white, it will appear greenish to us.

Impressionism did not raise philosophical problems and did not even try to penetrate beneath the colored surface of everyday life. Instead, artists focus on superficiality, the fluidity of a moment, mood, lighting or angle of view. Their paintings presented only the positive aspects of life, without touching on acute social problems.

Artists often painted people in motion, while having fun or relaxing. Subjects of flirting, dancing, being in a cafe and theater, boating, on beaches and in gardens were taken. Judging by the paintings of the Impressionists, life is a continuous series of small holidays, parties, pleasant pastimes outside the city or in a friendly environment.

Impressionism left a rich legacy in painting. First of all, this is an interest in color problems and non-standard techniques. Impressionism expressed the desire for renewal artistic language and a break with tradition, as a protest against the painstaking technique of the masters classical school. Well, you and I can now admire these magnificent works of outstanding artists.

Impressionism is an artistic movement that emerged in the 70s. 19th century French painting, and then manifested itself in music, literature, theater.

Impressionism in painting began to take shape long before the famous exhibition of 1874. Edouard Manet is traditionally considered the founder of the Impressionists. He was very inspired by the classical works of Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, Velazquez. Manet expressed his vision of the images on his canvases, adding “vibrating” strokes that created the effect of incompleteness. In 1863, Manet created Olympia, which caused big scandal in a cultural society.

At first glance, the picture was made in line with traditional canons, but at the same time it already carried innovative trends. About 87 reviews were written about Olympia in various Parisian publications. She was hit with a lot of negative criticism - the artist was accused of vulgarity. And only a few articles could be called favorable.

Manet used a single-layer paint technique in his work, which created a stained effect. Subsequently, this technique of applying paint was adopted by impressionist artists as the basis for images on paintings.

A distinctive feature of impressionism was the subtlest recording of fleeting impressions, in a special manner of reproducing the light environment with the help of a complex mosaic of pure colors and cursory decorative strokes.

It is curious that at the beginning of their search, the artists used a cyanometer - an instrument for determining the blueness of the sky. Black color was excluded from the palette, it was replaced with other color shades, which made it possible not to spoil the sunny mood of the paintings.

The Impressionists were guided by the latest scientific discoveries of their time. The color theory of Chevreul and Helmholtz boils down to the following: the sun's ray is split into its component colors, and, accordingly, two paints placed on the canvas enhance the pictorial effect, and when mixed the paints lose intensity.

The aesthetics of impressionism developed, in part, as an attempt to decisively free ourselves from the conventions of classicism in art, as well as from the persistent symbolism and profundity of late romantic painting, which invited everyone to see encrypted plans that needed careful interpretation. Impressionism asserted not just the beauty of everyday reality, but the capture of a colorful atmosphere, without detailing or interpreting, depicting the world as an ever-changing optical phenomenon.

Impressionist artists developed a complete plein air system. The predecessors of this stylistic feature there were landscape painters who came from the Barbizon school, the main representatives of which were Camille Corot and John Constable.

Working in an open space provided more opportunity to capture the slightest color changes in different time days.

Claude Monet created several series of paintings on the same subject, for example, “Rouen Cathedral” (a series of 50 paintings), “Haystacks” (a series of 15 paintings), “Pond with Water Lilies”, etc. The main indicator of these series there was a change in light and color in the image of the same object painted at different times of the day.

Another achievement of impressionism is the development of an original painting system, where complex tones are decomposed into pure colors conveyed by individual strokes. The artists did not mix colors on the palette, but preferred to apply strokes directly to the canvas. This technique gave the paintings a special trepidation, variability and relief. The artists' works were filled with color and light.

The exhibition on April 15, 1874 in Paris was the result of the period of formation and presentation of a new movement to the general public. The exhibition took place in the studio of photographer Felix Nadar on the Boulevard des Capucines.

The name “Impressionism” arose after an exhibition at which Monet’s painting “Impression” was exhibited. Sunrise". The critic L. Leroy, in his review in the publication Charivari, gave a humorous description of the exhibition of 1874, citing the example of Monet’s work. Another critic, Maurice Denis, reproached the impressionists for their lack of individuality, feeling, and poetry.

At the first exhibition, about 30 artists showed their works. It was the most a large number of, compared with subsequent exhibitions up to 1886.

One cannot help but mention the positive feedback from Russian society. Russian artists and democratic critics, who were always keenly interested in the artistic life of France - I. V. Kramskoy, I. E. Repin and V. V. Stasov - highly appreciated the achievements of the Impressionists from the very first exhibition.

The new stage in the history of art, which began with the exhibition of 1874, was not a sudden explosion of revolutionary tendencies - it was the culmination of a slow and gradual development.

While all the great masters of the past contributed to the development of the principles of impressionism, the immediate roots of the movement can most easily be discovered in the twenty years preceding the historical exhibition.

In parallel with the exhibitions at the Salon, Impressionist exhibitions were gaining momentum. Their works demonstrated new trends in painting. This was a reproach to salon culture and exhibition traditions. Subsequently, impressionist artists managed to attract admirers of new trends in art to their side.

Theoretical knowledge and formulations of impressionism began to develop quite late. Artists preferred more practice and their own experiments with light and color. In impressionism, primarily pictorial, the legacy of realism can be traced; it clearly expresses the anti-academic, anti-salon orientation and installation of depicting the surrounding reality of that time. Some researchers note that impressionism has become a special branch of realism.

Undoubtedly, in impressionistic art, as in every artistic movement that arises during the period of turning point and crisis of old traditions, various and even contradictory trends were intertwined, for all its external integrity.

The fundamental features were the themes of the artists’ works, the means artistic expression. Irina Vladimirova’s book about the impressionists includes several chapters: “Landscape, nature, impressions”, “City, places of meetings and partings”, “Hobbies as a way of life”, “People and characters”, “Portraits and self-portraits”, “Still life”. It also describes the creation history and location of each work.

During the heyday of impressionism, artists found a harmonious balance between objective reality and its perception. The artists tried to capture every ray of light, the movement of the breeze, and the changeability of nature. To preserve the freshness of their paintings, the Impressionists created an original painting system, which later turned out to be very important for the further development of art. Despite the general trends in painting, each artist found his own creative path and main genres in painting.

Classical impressionism is represented by such artists as Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Edgar Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, Jean Frédéric Bazille, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas.

Let's consider the contribution of some artists to the development of impressionism.

Edouard Manet (1832-1883)

Manet received his first painting lessons from T. Couture, thanks to which the future artist acquired a lot of necessary professional skills. Due to the lack of proper attention from the teacher to his students, Manet leaves the master’s atelier and engages in self-education. He attends exhibitions in museums; his creative formation was greatly influenced by the old masters, especially Spanish ones.

In the 1860s, Manet wrote two works in which the basic principles of his artistic style are visible. Lola of Valencia (1862) and The Flutist (1866) show Manet as an artist who reveals the character of his subject through the rendering of color.

His ideas on brushstrokes and his approach to color were adopted by other Impressionist artists. In the 1870s, Manet became closer to his followers and worked plein air without black on the palette. The arrival to impressionism was the result of the creative evolution of Manet himself. Manet's most impressionistic paintings are “In a Boat” (1874) and “Claude Monet in a Boat” (1874).

Manet also painted many portraits of various society ladies, actresses, models, beautiful women. Each portrait conveyed the uniqueness and individuality of the model.

Shortly before his death, Manet painted one of his masterpieces - “Bar Folies-Bergère” (1881-1882). This painting combines several genres: portrait, still life, everyday scene.

N. N. Kalitina writes: “The magic of Manet’s art is such that the girl confronts her surroundings, thanks to which her mood is so clearly revealed, and at the same time is a part, for the entire background, vaguely discernible, vague, worrying, is also resolved in blue-black , bluish-white, yellow tones.”

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Claude Monet was the undoubted leader and founder of classical impressionism. The main genre of his painting was landscape.

In his youth, Monet was fond of caricature and caricature. The first models for his works were his teachers and comrades. He used cartoons in newspapers and magazines as a model. He copied the drawings in Gaulois by E. Carge, a poet and caricaturist, a friend of Gustave Coubret.

At college, Monet's painting was taught by Jacques-François Hauchard. But it is fair to note the influence on Monet of Boudin, who supported the artist, gave him advice, and motivated him to continue his work.

In November 1862, Monet continued his studies in Paris with Gleyre. Thanks to this, Monet met Basil, Renoir, and Sisley in his studio. Young artists prepared to enter the School of Fine Arts, respecting their teacher, who charged little for his lessons and gave advice in a gentle manner.

Monet created his paintings not as a story, not as an illustration of an idea or theme. His painting, like life, had no clear goals. He saw the world without focusing on details, on some principles, he went towards a “landscape vision” (the term of the art historian A. A. Fedorov-Davydov). Monet strove for plotlessness and a fusion of genres on canvas. The means of implementing his innovations were sketches, which were supposed to become finished paintings. All sketches were drawn from life.

He painted meadows, hills, flowers, rocks, gardens, village streets, the sea, beaches and much more; he turned to depicting nature at different times of the day. He often wrote the same place at different times, thereby creating entire cycles from his works. The principle of his work was not the depiction of objects in the picture, but the accurate transmission of light.

Let us give a few examples of the artist’s works - “Field of Poppies at Argenteuil” (1873), “Splash Pool” (1869), “Pond with Water Lilies” (1899), “Wheat Stacks” (1891).

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

Renoir is one of the outstanding masters of secular portraiture; in addition, he worked in the genres of landscape, everyday scenes, and still life.

The peculiarity of his work is his interest in the personality of a person, the revelation of his character and soul. In his canvases, Renoir tries to emphasize the feeling of the fullness of existence. The artist is attracted to entertainment and celebrations; he paints balls, walks with their movement and variety of characters, and dances.

The most famous works artist - “Portrait of the actress Jeanne Samary”, “Umbrellas”, “Bathing in the Seine”, etc.

It is interesting that Renoir was distinguished by his musicality and as a child sang in a church choir under the direction of the outstanding composer and teacher Charles Gounod in Paris at the Saint-Eustache Cathedral. C. Gounod strongly recommended that the boy study music. But at the same time, Renoir discovered his artistic talent - from the age of 13 he had already learned to paint porcelain dishes.

Music lessons influenced the development of the artist’s personality. A number of his works are related to musical themes. They reflect the playing of piano, guitar, and mandolin. These are the paintings “Guitar Lesson”, “Young Spanish Woman with a Guitar”, “Young Lady at the Piano”, “Woman Playing the Guitar”, “Piano Lesson”, etc.

Jean Frédéric Bazille (1841-1870)

According to his artist friends, Basil was the most promising and outstanding impressionist.

His works are vibrant color scheme and spirituality of images. Big influence Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and Claude Monet influenced his creative path. Jean Frederic's apartment was a kind of studio and housing for aspiring painters.

Basil primarily painted en plein air. The main idea of ​​his work was the image of man against the backdrop of nature. His first heroes in the paintings were his artist friends; many impressionists were very fond of drawing each other in their works.

Frédéric Bazille, in his creative work, outlined the movement of realistic impressionism. His most famous painting, Family Reunion (1867), is autobiographical. The artist depicts his family members on it. This work was presented at the Salon and received approval from the public.

In 1870, the artist died in the Prussian-French War. After the artist’s death, his artist friends organized a third exhibition of impressionists, where his paintings were also exhibited.

Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)

Camille Pissarro is one of the largest representatives of landscape artists after C. Monet. His works were constantly exhibited in Impressionist exhibitions. In his works, Pissarro preferred to depict plowed fields, peasant life and labor. His paintings were distinguished by their structural forms and clarity of composition.

Later, the artist began to paint paintings on urban themes. N. N. Kalitina notes in her book: “He looks at the city streets from the windows of the upper floors or from the balconies, without introducing them into the composition.”

Under the influence of Georges-Pierre Seurat, the artist took up pointillism. This technique involves applying each stroke separately, as if putting dots. But creative prospects in this area were not realized, and Pissarro returned to impressionism.

Pissarro's most famous paintings were “Boulevard Montmartre. Afternoon, sunny", "Opera Passage in Paris", "Square French theater in Paris”, “Garden in Pontoise”, “Harvest”, “Haymaking”, etc.

Alfred Sisley (1839-1899)

Alfred Sisley's main genre of painting was landscape. In his early works one can see mainly the influence of K. Corot. Gradually, in the process of working together with C. Monet, J. F. Bazille, P. O. Renoir, light colors begin to appear in his works.

The artist is attracted by the play of light, the change in the state of the atmosphere. Sisley turned to the same landscape several times, capturing it at different times of the day. The artist gave priority in his works to images of water and sky, which changed every second. The artist managed to achieve perfection with the help of color; each shade in his works carries a unique symbolism.

His most famous works: “Rural Alley” (1864), “Frost in Louveciennes” (1873), “View of Montmartre from the Flower Island” (1869), “Early Snow in Louveciennes” (1872), “Bridge at Argenteuil” (1872 ).

Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

Edgar Degas is an artist who began his creative career by studying at the School of Fine Arts. He was inspired by artists Italian Renaissance, which influenced his work as a whole. At the beginning Degas wrote historical paintings, for example, “Spartan girls challenge Spartan boys to a competition. (1860). The main genre of his painting is portrait. In his works, the artist relies on classical traditions. He creates works marked acute sensation of its time.

Unlike his colleagues, Degas does not share the joyful, open view of life and things inherent in impressionism. The artist is closer to the critical tradition of art: compassion for fate common man, the ability to see the souls of people, their inner world, inconsistency, tragedy.

For Degas, objects and interior surrounding a person play a big role in creating a portrait. Here are a few works as examples: “Désirée Dio with Orchestra” (1868-1869), “ Female portrait"(1868), "The Morbilli Couple" (1867), etc.

The principle of portraiture in Degas’s works can be traced throughout his entire creative path. In the 1870s, the artist depicted the society of France, in particular Paris, in its full glory in his works. The artist's interests include urban life in motion. “Movement was for him one of the most important manifestations of life, and the ability of art to convey it was the most important achievement modern painting"- writes N.N. Kalitina.

During this period of time, such films as “The Star” (1878), “Miss Lola in Fernando’s Circus”, “Horsing at Epsom”, etc. were created.

A new round of Degas’s creativity was his interest in ballet. It shows the behind-the-scenes life of ballerinas, talking about their hard work and rigorous training. But, despite this, the artist manages to find airiness and lightness in the rendering of their images.

In the ballet series of paintings by Degas, achievements in the field of transmitting artificial light from the stage are visible; they speak of the artist’s coloristic talent. The most famous paintings are “Blue Dancers” (1897), “Dance Class” (1874), “Dancer with a Bouquet” (1877), “Dancers in Pink” (1885) and others.

At the end of his life, due to deteriorating eyesight, Degas tried his hand at sculpture. His objects are the same ballerinas, women, horses. In sculpture, Degas tries to convey movement, and in order to appreciate the sculpture, you need to look at it from different angles.

Impressionism is a movement in painting that originated in France in XIX-XX centuries, which is an artistic attempt to capture some moment of life in all its variability and mobility. Impressionist paintings are like a well-washed photograph, reviving in fantasy the continuation of the story seen. In this article we will look at the 10 most famous impressionists in the world. Fortunately, there are many more than ten, twenty or even a hundred talented artists, so let's focus on those names that you definitely need to know.

In order not to offend either the artists or their admirers, the list is given in Russian alphabetical order.

1. Alfred Sisley

This French painter English origin is considered the most famous landscape painter second half of the 19th century century. His collection contains more than 900 paintings, of which the most famous are “Rural Alley”, “Frost in Louveciennes”, “Bridge in Argenteuil”, “Early Snow in Louveciennes”, “Lawns in Spring”, and many others.

2. Van Gogh

Known around the world sad story about his ear (by the way, he did not cut off his entire ear, but only the lobe), Wang Gon became popular only after his death. And during his life he was able to sell one single painting, 4 months before his death. They say he was both an entrepreneur and a priest, but he often found himself in psychiatric hospitals due to depression, so all the rebelliousness of his existence resulted in legendary works.

3. Camille Pissarro

Pissarro was born on the island of St. Thomas, into a family of bourgeois Jews, and was one of the few impressionists whose parents encouraged his passion and soon sent him to Paris to study. Most of all, the artist liked nature, which is what he depicted in all colors, and to be more precise, Pissarro had a special talent for selecting the softness of colors and compatibility, after which air seemed to appear in the paintings.

4. Claude Monet

Since childhood, the boy decided that he would become an artist, despite family prohibitions. Having moved to Paris on his own, Claude Monet plunged into the gray everyday life of a hard life: two years of service in the armed forces in Algeria, litigation with creditors due to poverty and illness. However, one gets the feeling that the difficulties did not oppress, but, on the contrary, inspired the artist to create such vivid paintings as “Impression, Sunrise”, “Houses of Parliament in London”, “Bridge to Europe”, “Autumn in Argenteuil”, “On the Shore” Trouville", and many others.

5. Konstantin Korovin

It's nice to know that among the French, the parents of impressionism, we can proudly place our compatriot, Konstantin Korovin. A passionate love for nature helped him intuitively give unimaginable liveliness to a static picture, thanks to the combination of suitable colors, the width of strokes, and the choice of theme. It is impossible to pass by his paintings “Pier in Gurzuf”, “Fish, Wine and Fruit”, “ Autumn landscape", "Moonlight night. Winter" and a series of his works dedicated to Paris.

6. Paul Gauguin

Until the age of 26, Paul Gauguin did not even think about painting. He was an entrepreneur and had big family. However, when I first saw the paintings of Camille Pissarro, I decided that I would definitely start painting. Over time, the artist’s style changed, but the most famous impressionistic paintings are “Garden in the Snow”, “At the Cliff”, “On the Beach in Dieppe”, “Nude”, “Palm Trees in Martinique” and others.

7. Paul Cezanne

Cezanne, unlike most of his colleagues, became famous during his lifetime. He managed to organize his own exhibition and earn considerable income from it. People knew a lot about his paintings - he, like no one else, learned to combine the play of light and shadow, placed a strong emphasis on regular and irregular geometric shapes, the severity of the theme of his paintings was in harmony with romance.

8. Pierre Auguste Renoir

Until the age of 20, Renoir worked as a fan decorator for his older brother, and only then moved to Paris, where he met Monet, Basil and Sisley. This acquaintance helped him in the future to take the path of impressionism and become famous on it. Renoir is known as the author of sentimental portraits, among his most outstanding works are “On the Terrace”, “A Walk”, “Portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary”, “The Lodge”, “Alfred Sisley and His Wife”, “On the Swing”, “The Paddling Pool” and a lot others.

9. Edgar Degas

If you haven’t heard anything about “Blue Dancers”, “Ballet Rehearsal”, “Ballet School” and “Absinthe”, hurry up and find out about the work of Edgar Degas. The selection of original colors, unique themes for paintings, a sense of movement of the picture - all this and much more made Degas one of the most famous artists peace.

10. Edouard Manet

Don't confuse Manet with Monet - they are two different people, who worked at the same time and in the same artistic direction. Manet was always attracted to scenes of everyday life, unusual appearances and types, as if accidentally “caught” moments, subsequently captured for centuries. Among famous paintings Manet: “Olympia”, “Luncheon on the Grass”, “Bar at the Folies Bergere”, “The Flutist”, “Nana” and others.

If you have even the slightest opportunity to see the paintings of these masters live, you will forever fall in love with impressionism!

Alexandra Skripkina,

fr. impression - impression) - a direction in art of the last third of the 19th century - the beginning. 20th century, whose representatives began to paint landscapes and genre scenes directly from life, trying to convey the glare of the sun, the blow of wind, the rustle of grass, and the movement of the city crowd with very pure and intense colors. The impressionists sought to capture the real world in its mobility and variability in the most natural and unbiased way, and to convey their fleeting impressions.

Excellent definition

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IMPRESSIONISM

French impressionnisme, from impression - impression), a direction in the art of con. 1860 – early 1880s Most clearly manifested in painting. Leading representatives: C. Monet, O. Renoir, C. Pissarro, A. Guillaumin, B. Morisot, M. Cassatt, A. Sisley, G. Caillebotte and J. F. Bazille. E. Manet and E. Degas exhibited their paintings with them, although the style of their works cannot be called completely impressionistic. The name “Impressionists” was assigned to a group of young artists after their first joint exhibition in Paris (1874; Monet, Renoir, Pizarro, Degas, Sisley, etc.), which caused furious indignation among the public and critics. One of the presented paintings by C. Monet (1872) was called “Impression. Sunrise” (“L’impression. Soleil levant”), and the reviewer mockingly called the artists “impressionists” - “impressionists.” The painters performed under this name at the third joint exhibition (1877). At the same time, they began to publish the Impressionist magazine, each issue of which was dedicated to the work of one of the group members.

The impressionists sought to capture the world in its constant variability, fluidity, to impartially express your immediate impressions. Impressionism was based on latest discoveries optics and color theory (spectral decomposition sunbeam seven colors of the rainbow); in this he is in tune with the spirit of scientific analysis characteristic of con. 19th century However, the impressionists themselves did not try to define the theoretical foundations of their art, insisting on the spontaneity and intuitiveness of the artist’s creativity. Artistic principles the impressionists were not united. Monet painted landscapes only in direct contact with nature, in the open air (en plein air), and even built a workshop in a boat. Degas worked in the workshop from memories or using photographs. Unlike representatives of later radical movements, artists did not go beyond the Renaissance illusory-spatial system based on the use of direct perspective. They firmly adhered to the method of working from life, which they elevated to the main principle of creativity. Artists sought to “paint what you see” and “the way you see.” The consistent application of this method entailed the transformation of all the foundations of the existing pictorial system: color, composition, spatial structure. Pure paints were applied to the canvas in small separate strokes: multi-colored “dots” lay side by side, mixing into a colorful spectacle not on the palette or on the canvas, but in the viewer’s eye. The Impressionists achieved an unprecedented sonority of color and an unprecedented richness of shades. The brushstroke became an independent means of expression, filling the surface of the painting with a living, shimmering vibration of color particles. The canvas was likened to a mosaic shimmering with precious colors. In previous paintings, black, gray, and brown shades predominated; In the paintings of the Impressionists, the colors shone brightly. The Impressionists did not use chiaroscuro to convey volumes; they abandoned dark shadows, and the shadows in their paintings also became colored. Artists widely used additional tones (red and green, yellow and violet), the contrast of which increased the intensity of the sound of color. In Monet's paintings, the colors were lightened and dissolved in the radiance of rays sunlight, local colors acquired many shades.

The impressionists depicted the world around us in perpetual motion, transition from one state to another. They began to paint a series of paintings, wanting to show how the same motif changes depending on the time of day, lighting, weather conditions, etc. (cycles “Boulevard Montmartre” by C. Pissarro, 1897; “Rouen Cathedral”, 1893– 95, and "Parliament of London", 1903–04, C. Monet). Artists found ways to reflect in their paintings the movement of clouds (A. Sisley. “Loing in Saint-Mamme”, 1882), the play of glare of sunlight (O. Renoir. “Swing”, 1876), gusts of wind (C. Monet. “Terrace in Sainte-Adresse", 1866), streams of rain (G. Caillebotte. "Hierarch. The Effect of Rain", 1875), falling snow (C. Pissarro. "Opera Passage. The Effect of Snow", 1898), rapid running of horses (E. Manet "Racing at Longchamp", 1865).

The Impressionists developed new principles of composition. Previously, the space of a painting was likened to a stage; now the captured scenes resembled a snapshot, a photographic frame. Invented in the 19th century. photography had a significant influence on the composition of impressionistic paintings, especially in the work of E. Degas, who himself was a passionate photographer and, in his own words, sought to take the ballerinas he depicted by surprise, to see them “as if through a keyhole,” when their poses, body lines natural, expressive and authentic. Creating paintings in the open air, the desire to capture rapidly changing lighting forced artists to speed up their work, painting “alla prima” (in one go), without preliminary sketches. Fragmentation, “randomness” of the composition and dynamic painting style created a feeling of special freshness in the paintings of the Impressionists.

The favorite impressionistic genre was landscape; the portrait also represented a kind of “landscape of a face” (O. Renoir. “Portrait of the Actress J. Samary”, 1877). In addition, the artists significantly expanded the range of painting subjects, turning to topics previously considered unworthy of attention: folk festivals, horse races, picnics of artistic bohemia, the backstage life of theaters, etc. However, their paintings do not have a detailed plot or detailed narration; human life is dissolved in nature or in the atmosphere of the city. The impressionists painted not events, but moods, shades of feelings. Artists fundamentally rejected historical and literary themes, avoided depicting the dramatic, dark sides of life (wars, disasters, etc.). They sought to free art from the fulfillment of social, political and moral tasks, from the obligation to evaluate the depicted phenomena. Artists sang the beauty of the world, being able to turn the most everyday motif (room renovation, gray London fog, smoke of steam locomotives, etc.) into an enchanting spectacle (G. Caillebotte. “Parquet Boys”, 1875; C. Monet. “Gare Saint-Lazare” , 1877).

In 1886, the last exhibition of the Impressionists took place (O. Renoir and C. Monet did not participate in it). By this time, significant disagreements had emerged between group members. The possibilities of the impressionist method were exhausted, and each of the artists began to look for their own path in art.

Impressionism as a whole creative method was a phenomenon of predominantly French art, but the work of the Impressionists had an impact on the whole European painting. The desire to renew the artistic language, brightening the colorful palette, and exposing painting techniques have now become firmly established in the arsenal of artists. In other countries, J. Whistler (England and the USA), M. Lieberman, L. Corinth (Germany), and H. Sorolla (Spain) were close to impressionism. Many Russian artists experienced the influence of impressionism (V. A. Serov, K. A. Korovin, I. E. Grabar, etc.).

In addition to painting, impressionism was embodied in the work of some sculptors (E. Degas and O. Rodin in France, M. Rosso in Italy, P. P. Trubetskoy in Russia) in the living free modeling of fluid soft forms, which creates a complex play of light on the surface of the material and a feeling of incompleteness of the work; the poses capture the moment of movement and development. In music, the works of C. Debussy ("Sails", "Mists", "Reflections in Water", etc.) are close to impressionism.

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