The Origins, Development of Influence of Impressionism (Coursework Sample)

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Impressionism
Introduction
The arts have been one of the cultural activities that humans have been engaging in for a long time. For example, painting has its own history as it was developed during early Stone Age period. Humans used art impressions painted on walls and stones to relay messages and keep historical data. This developed continually until there was a significant change and development of art and in 1874, impressionism was first launched in France. Impressionism can be defined as a movement of art in painting that was developed in late 18th century by Impressionists who wanted to bring new ways of expressing their ideas to their societies. Although this art received criticisms as it was referred to as incomplete, it later gained support and became accepted in France, other parts of Europe and later spread to the United States of America. Today impressionism is recognized for its modernity, embodied in its rejection of established styles, its incorporation of new ideas and its depiction of modern life. This essay discusses the origin, development and influences of Impressionism as an art form.
Origin
Impressionism was started in 1874 in Paris, France, when a group of artists calling themselves the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Printmakers, congregated in Paris to exhibit their artworks, which had previously been rejected by the Paris Salon, the official annual art exhibition (Samu 2004). Among the founding members were Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, and Claude Monet. Originally, the members of the anonymous society were united not in the similarity of their work, but in their independence from the Paris Salon. The Salon was influential in promoting the artists because the works exhibited were selected by a jury of artists drawn from the famous Académie des Beaux-Arts, and winning arts awarded medals. The group that will later form the Impressionist movement consisted of individual artists whose works were not selected for annual exhibition. Despite their different approaches to painting, consequently, the artists were categorized into the same group by contemporary art critics. At the same time, the marginalized artists were criticized for producing what appeared to be sketch-like, unfinished artworks as a result of the broken brushstrokes that did not portray forms fully. The term Impressionism originated from this seemingly incompleteness of the artists’ work, when the critic Louis Leroy dismissed Claude Monet’s Sunrise painting as nothing more than a sketch, a mere “impression” of what the artist had intended to paint (Samu 2004). This accusation inspired the artists to adopt the title Impressionist to describe their style. Thus, the Impressionist movement first came into being in Paris in the late 19th century when the artists whose work was not selected by the Paris Salon adopted the title Impressionism to describe their painting style.
Development
Impressionism developed into a major art movement after the French Revolution, when the artists adopted outdoor sceneries as the subject of their painting. For instance, the painter Constable depicted outdoor scenes with the clouds or sky as his subject of focus (Art Encyclopedia 2016). Landscape painting was also a popular trend among Impressionists, such as the depiction of rural and suburban Paris, a development pioneered by Pierre Renoir and Monet (Katz and Celestine 20). This trend was quickly adopted by other Impressionists who lived just outside of Paris or in the countryside, which provided diverse subjects for depiction. Consequently, Impressionism became almost synonymous with images of leisure rural and suburban scenes, gaining popularity among Parisians who frequented the countryside every weekend as a result of easy transportation provided by the railway line. For instance, Pissarro’s work involved depictions of the daily life activities of rural villagers in his home Pontoise. Other impressionists depicted images of leisure activities like boating and bathing among vacationers. The French Revolution had a positive impact to the growth of Impressionism through the social changes it brought about, making it possible for many Parisians to afford and enjoy outdoor leisure, and consequently, appreciate artworks that depicted leisure lifestyles.
Influences of Impressionism
Impressionism influenced modern art by encouraging the experimentation of new ideas in painting, resulting in avant-garde art” (Art Encyclopedia 2016). Avant-garde was an art movement that involved experimenting with new ideas and styles in painting. Impressionism had developed from the artists’ experimentation with a new painting style, which involved using broken brushstrokes to create impressions of their subject. Avant-garde took the experimentation a notch higher as the artists exploited their freedom to be innovative and i...