Impressionism, according to Wikipedia, is a style is first and foremost something ethereal, ephemeral, fleeting inexorably. This is an exciting moment that the eye barely has time to fix and which then remains in the memory as the greatest moment of harmony. Impressionist Masters are famous for the ability to easily transfer this wonderful moment on the canvas, giving it tangible sensations and subtle vibrations that occur with all reality in the interaction with the picture. When you look at the work of outstanding artists of this style, your mood will be improved.
Impressionism is the direction in art that originated in France in the end of 1860s. Its representatives have sought the most natural and open mind to capture the real world in its mobility and variability, to convey their fleeting impressions. Particular attention was paid to the transmission of color and light.
The word "Impressionism" comes from the name of the picture by Monet, called “Impression”, presented at the exhibition in 1874. A little-known journalist Louis Leroy, in his magazine article, called artists the "Impressionists" to express his disdain. However, the name stuck and lost its original negative meaning.
The first major exhibition of the Impressionists took place from 15 April to 15 May, 1874 in the studio of the photographer Nadar. There were presented 30 artists and in total there were 165 works. Young were artists accused of "incompleteness" and "carelessness of painting", the lack of taste and meaning in their work, of rebellious mood, and even immorality.
The leading representatives of Impressionism are Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Berthe Morisot, Alfred Sisley and Frédéric Bazille. Together with them, Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas exhibited their paintings. By the Impressionists also ranked James Whistler, Joaquin Sorolla, Konstantin Korovin.
Landscapes and scenes of urban life are perhaps the most characteristic genres of Impressionist paintings - were written "in the open air", i.e. directly from nature, rather than on the basis of sketches and preparatory sketches. Impressionists closely scrutinized in nature, noting the colors and shades, usually invisible, such as blue in the shadows.
Their artistic method consisted in the expansion of complex tones into their complicated pure colors of the spectrum. They obtained a color shade and clean bright tremulous painting. Impressionists imposed paint by individual strokes, sometimes using contrasting colors on one area of the picture. The main feature of Impressionist paintings is the effect of live flicker of paints.
To transfer the color change, impressionists preferred to use colors mutually reinforcing each other: red and green, yellow and purple, orange and blue. These colors created the effect of successive contrast. For example, if we look at the the red color for some time, and then transfer the look on white, it will seem to us greenish.
Impressionism did not raise philosophical problems and did not even try to penetrate beneath the surface color of everydayness. Instead, the artists focused on the superficiality, the yield moments, mood lighting or viewing angle. Their paintings were representing only the positive side of life, without affecting the acute social problems.
Artists often painted people in motion, while having fun or relaxing. There were taken flirtation stories, dance, stay in the cafe and theater, boating, beaches and gardens. Judging by the paintings of the Impressionists, that life was full of a continuous succession of small events, parties, pleasant staying in the country or in a friendly environment.
Impressionism has left a rich legacy of art. This is primarily of interest to the problems of color and non-standard techniques. Impressionism expressed the desire for renewal of artistic language and a break with tradition, as a protest against the painstaking art of masters of the classical school. Well, we are now able to admire these magnificent works of outstanding artists.
In an effort to maximize the immediacy and accuracy in the transfer of the world, they began to paint mostly outdoors and raised the value of sketches from nature, almost displacing traditional painting style, carefully and slowly created in the studio.
Impressionists showed the beauty of the real world in which every moment was unique. They infinitely expanded the possibilities of Fine Arts, opened not only the world of the sun, light and air, but also the beauty of the London fogs, hectic life of the big city atmosphere, scattering its night lights and incessant rhythm of movement.
By virtue of the method of working in the open air, landscape has taken a very important place in the art of the Impressionists.
However, it does not mean that the paintings of the Impressionists were peculiar only "a landscape". Thematic and plot the range of their creativity was wide enough. Interest in man in particular, as well as in modern life in France, in the broad sense was characteristic of a number of representatives of this art direction. Its life-affirming and democratic at its core pathos was clearly opposed to the bourgeois world order.
Portraying landscapes and forms using colored dots, impressionists questioned the strength and physicality of surrounding things. However, the artist can not be satisfied with one impression, as he needs drawing, organizing a complete picture. Since the mid-1880s, a new generation of artists - the Impressionists, associated with the direction of art, puts more and more experiments in their paintings, which resulted in a growing number of areas (varieties) of Impressionism, art groups and venues for exhibitions of their works.
Artists of directions did not not mix different paints on the palette, but painted with pure colors. Putting a dab of paint next to the other, they often left a rough surface on the paintings. It has been noticed that many of the colors became more vivid in the neighborhood with each other. This technique is called the contrast effect of complementary colors.
Impressionist painters keenly observed the slightest change in the weather conditions, as they worked outdoors and would like to create an image of the landscape, where the motif, color, lighting would be merged into a single poetic image of the urban kind or the countryside. Impressionists attached great importance to color and light due to the pattern and volume. Precise contours of objects, contrasts and chiaroscuro were forgotten and gone. They wanted to make a picture like an open window, through which you can see the real world. This new style has influenced many artists of the time.
Impressionists caused great influence on fine arts. And this direction is considered to be as one of the most beautiful ones.