Impressionist paintings, portraits and landscapes. Modern impressionism: paintings worth paying attention to

Impressionism (impressionnisme) is a style of painting that appeared at the end of the 19th century in France and then spread throughout the world. The very idea of ​​impressionism lies in its name: impression - impression. Artists who were tired of traditional academic painting techniques, which, in their opinion, did not convey all the beauty and liveliness of the world, began to use completely new techniques and methods of image, which were supposed to express in the most accessible form not a “photographic” appearance, but an impression from what he saw. In his painting, the impressionist artist, using the nature of his strokes and color palette, tries to convey the atmosphere, warmth or cold, strong wind or peaceful silence, a foggy rainy morning or a bright sunny afternoon, as well as his personal experiences from what he saw.

Impressionism is a world of feelings, emotions and fleeting impressions. What is valued here is not external realism or naturalness, but rather the realism of the expressed sensations, the internal state of the picture, its atmosphere, and depth. Initially, this style was subject to strong criticism. The first Impressionist paintings were exhibited at the Parisian “Salon of Les Misérables,” where works by artists rejected by the official Paris Salon of Arts were exhibited. The term “impressionism” was first used by critic Louis Leroy, who wrote a disparaging review in the magazine “Le Charivari” about an exhibition of artists. As the basis for the term, he took Claude Monet’s painting “Impression. Rising sun" He called all the artists impressionists, which can be roughly translated as “impressionists.” At first, the paintings were indeed criticized, but soon more and more fans of the new art direction began to come to the salon, and the genre itself turned from a rejected one to a recognized one.

It is worth noting that the artists late XIX centuries in France they did not come up with a new style out of nowhere. They took as a basis the techniques of painters of the past, including artists of the Renaissance. Painters such as El Greco, Velazquez, Goya, Rubens, Turner and others, long before the emergence of impressionism, tried to convey the mood of a picture, the liveliness of nature, the special expressiveness of the weather with the help of various intermediate tones, bright or, on the contrary, dull strokes that looked like abstract things. They used it quite sparingly in their paintings, so unusual technique did not catch the viewer's eye. The Impressionists decided to take these image methods as the basis for their works.

One more specific feature The works of the impressionists are a kind of superficial everydayness, which, however, contains incredible depth. They do not try to express any deep philosophical themes, mythological or religious problems, historical and important events. The paintings of artists of this movement are inherently simple and everyday - landscapes, still lifes, people walking down the street or going about their normal business, and so on. It is precisely such moments, where there is no excessive thematic content that distracts a person, that feelings and emotions from what they see come to the fore. Also, the impressionists, at least at the beginning of their existence, did not depict “heavy” themes - poverty, wars, tragedies, suffering, and so on. Impressionist paintings are most often the most positive and joyful works, where there is a lot of light, bright colors, smoothed light and shade, smooth contrasts. Impressionism is a pleasant impression, joy from life, the beauty of every moment, pleasure, purity, sincerity.

The most famous impressionists were such great artists as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro and many others.

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Alfred Sisley - Lawns in Spring

Camille Pissarro - Boulevard Montmartre. Afternoon, sunny.

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 peace. 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 of 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, he depicted it in all colors, and to be more precise, Pissarro had a special talent for selecting the softness of colors, 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 depress, 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», « moonlit 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 a large 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- “On the Terrace”, “Walk”, “Portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary”, “The Lodge”, “Alfred Sisley and His Wife”, “On the Swing”, “Splash Pool” and many others.

9. Edgar Degas

If you haven't heard anything about " Blue dancers", "Ballet rehearsals", " Ballet school" and "Absinthe" - hurry up to learn 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!

Impressionism (from the French " impression" - impression) is a direction in art (literature, painting, architecture), it appeared at the end early nineteenth twentieth century in France and quickly became widespread in other countries of the world. Followers of the new direction, who believed that academic, traditional techniques, for example, in painting or architecture, cannot fully convey the fullness and smallest details of the surrounding world, switched to using completely new techniques and methods, first of all in painting, then in literature and music. They made it possible to most vividly and naturally depict all the mobility and variability real world by conveying not its photographic appearance, but through the prism of the authors’ impressions and emotions about what they saw.

The author of the term “impressionism” is considered to be the French critic and journalist Louis Leroy, who, impressed by his visit to the exhibition of a group of young artists “The Salon of the Rejected” in 1874 in Paris, calls them in his feuilleton impressionists, a kind of “impressionists”, and this statement is somewhat dismissive and ironic character. The basis for the name of this term was the painting by Claude Monet “Impression” seen by a critic. Rising Sun." And although at first many of the paintings at this exhibition were subject to sharp criticism and rejection, later this direction received wider public recognition and became popular throughout the world.

Impressionism in painting

(Claude Monet "Boats on the Beach")

The new style, manner and technique of depiction were not invented by French impressionist artists out of nowhere; it was based on the experience and achievements of the most talented painters of the Renaissance: Rubens, Velazquez, El Greco, Goya. From them, the impressionists took such methods of more vividly and vividly conveying the surrounding world or the expressiveness of weather conditions, such as the use of intermediate tones, the use of techniques of bright or, on the contrary, dull strokes, large or small, characterized by abstractness. Adherents of the new direction in painting either completely abandoned the traditional academic manner of drawing, or completely remade the methods and methods of depiction in their own way, introducing such innovations as:

  • Objects, objects or figures were depicted without a contour, it was replaced by small and contrasting strokes;
  • A palette was not used to mix colors; colors were selected that complement each other and do not require merging. Sometimes the paint was squeezed onto the canvas directly from a metal tube, creating a pure, sparkling color with a brushstroke effect;
  • Virtual absence of black color;
  • The canvases were mostly painted outdoors, from nature, in order to more vividly and expressively convey their emotions and impressions of what they saw;
  • The use of paints with high covering power;
  • Applying fresh strokes directly onto the still wet surface of the canvas;
  • Creating Loops paintings in order to study changes in light and shadow (“Haystacks” by Claude Monet);
  • Lack of depiction of pressing social, philosophical or religious issues, historical or significant events. The works of the impressionists are filled with positive emotions, there is no place for gloom and heavy thoughts, there is only lightness, joy and beauty of every moment, sincerity of feelings and frankness of emotions.

(Edouard Manet "Reading")

And although not all artists of this movement adhered to particular precision in the execution of all the precise features of the impressionism style (Edouard Manet positioned himself as an individual artist and never participated in joint exhibitions (there were 8 in total from 1874 to 1886). Edgar Degas created only in his own workshop) this did not stop them from creating masterpieces fine arts, which are still kept in the best museums and private collections around the world.

Russian impressionist artists

Impressed by the creative ideas of the French impressionists, Russian artists at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century created their original masterpieces of fine art, later known under the general name “Russian impressionism”.

(V. A. Serov "Girl with Peaches")

Its most prominent representatives are considered to be Konstantin Korovin (“Portrait of a Chorus Girl”, 1883, “Northern Idyll” 1886), Valentin Serov (“ Open window. Lilac”, 1886, “Girl with Peaches”, 1887), Arkhip Kuindzhi (“North”, 1879, “Dnieper in the Morning” 1881), Abram Arkhipov (“North Sea”, “Landscape. Study with a Log House”) , “late” impressionist Igor Grabar (“Birch Alley”, 1940, “Winter Landscape”, 1954).

(Borisov-Musatov "Autumn Song")

The methods and manner of depiction inherent in impressionism took place in the works of such outstanding Russian artists as Borisov-Musatov, Bogdanov Belsky, Nilus. The classical canons of French impressionism in the paintings of Russian artists have undergone some changes, as a result of which this direction has acquired a unique national specificity.

Foreign impressionists

One of the first works executed in the style of impressionism is considered to be Edouard Manet’s painting “Luncheon on the Grass,” which was exhibited to the public in 1860 at the Paris “Salon of the Rejected,” where canvases that did not pass the selection of the Paris Salon of Arts could be dismantled. The painting, painted in a style that was radically different from the traditional manner of depiction, aroused a lot of critical comments and rallied followers of the new artistic movement around the artist.

(Edouard Manet "In the Tavern of Father Lathuile")

The most famous impressionist artists include Edouard Manet (“Bar at the Folies-Bergere”, “Music in the Tuileries”, “Breakfast on the Grass”, “At Father Lathuile’s”, “Argenteuil”), Claude Monet (“Field of Poppies at Argenteuil” ", "Walk to the Cliff in Pourville", "Women in the Garden", "Lady with an Umbrella", "Boulevard des Capucines", series of works "Water Lilies", "Impression. Rising Sun"), Alfred Sisley ("Rural Alley" , “Frost in Louveciennes”, “Bridge at Argenteuil”, “Early Snow in Louveciennes”, “Lawns in Spring”), Pierre Auguste Renoir (“Breakfast of the Rowers”, “Ball at the Moulin de la Galette”, “Dance in the Country”, “Umbrellas”, “Dance at Bougival”, “Girls at the Piano”), Camille Pizarro (“Boulevard Montmartre at Night”, “Harvest at Eragny”, “Reapers Resting”, “Garden at Pontoise”, “Entering the Village of Voisin”) , Edgar Degas (“Dance Class”, “Rehearsal”, “Concert at the Ambassador Café”, “Opera Orchestra”, “Dancers in Blue”, “Absinthe Lovers”), Georges Seurat (“Sunday Afternoon”, “Cancan”, "Models") and others.

(Paul Cezanne "Pierrot and Harlequin"")

Four artists in the 90s of the 19th century created a new direction in art based on impressionism and called themselves post-impressionists (Paul Gauguin, Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec). Their work is characterized by the transmission not of fleeting sensations and impressions from the world around them, but by the knowledge of the true essence of things, which is hidden under their outer shell. Most of them famous works: Paul Gauguin (“A Naughty Joke”, “La Orana Maria”, “Jacob’s Wrestling with an Angel”, “Yellow Christ”), Paul Cezanne (“Pierrot and Harlequin”, “Great Bathers”, “Lady in Blue”), Vincent Van Gogh ( Starry night", "Sunflowers", "Irises"), Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec ("The Laundress", "Toilet", "Dance Training at the Moulin Rouge").

Impressionism in sculpture

(Auguste Rodin "The Thinker")

Impressionism did not develop as a separate direction in architecture; one can find its individual features and characteristics in some sculptural compositions and monuments. This style gives sculpture free plastic soft forms, they create an amazing play of light on the surface of the figures and give some feeling of incompleteness; sculptural characters are often depicted at the moment of movement. To works in in this direction include sculptures by the famous French sculptor Auguste Rodin (“The Kiss”, “The Thinker”, “Poet and Muse”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Eternal Spring”), Italian artist and the sculptor Medardo Rosso (figures made of clay and plaster filled with wax to achieve a unique lighting effect: “The Gatekeeper and the Matchmaker,” “The Golden Age,” “Motherhood”), the Russian genius nugget Pavel Trubetskoy (bronze bust of Leo Tolstoy, monument Alexander III in St. Petersburg).

Impressionism is a movement mainly in French painting, characterized by the desire to convey fleeting impressions, a wealth of colors, psychological nuances, mobility and variability of the atmosphere of the surrounding world.

Fat strokes, bright colors, everyday scenes of life, candid poses and, most importantly, an accurate description of the light... Only a small fraction of the characteristics of one of the most popular artistic directions. in France in mid-19th century. Before its emergence, authors usually created still lifes, portraits and even landscapes in their studios.

For the first time in the history of art, artists made it a rule for themselves to paint not from the studio, but under open air: on the river bank, in a field, in a forest. Trying to express their direct impressions of things as accurately as possible, the Impressionists created a new method of painting.

PARKETERS, GUSTAVE CAIBOTT

One of the first paintings depicting the urban working class. Caillebotte illustrates the abiding interest in everyday life. Notice how accurately the artist captured the light coming through the window and the shadows. The painting is as realistic as a photograph, but was nevertheless rejected by the most prestigious art exhibitions and salons: the depiction of half-naked working-class men was considered a “vulgar subject.”

Impressionism is often considered precisely as a movement in painting that originated in the 19th century in France. Impressionism brought a double revolution, which is simultaneously reflected in the vision of the world and painting technique. He shows the painting as moving, ephemeral, elusive, focusing on the passing moment in the present tense. In addition, impressionism is characterized by light, touch, and color vibration.

Prominent representatives modern impressionism in painting many, but in this publication we will focus on four artists - Andre Kohn (Russia), Laurent Parcelier (France), Diane Leonard and Karen Tarlton (USA)- each of whom has a unique technique in painting.

Andre Kohn- comes from Volgograd, Russian Federation. From the age of 15 he began to seriously study painting under the guidance of Natalia Gavrichenko and Anatoly Vrubel. Since the artist deserved high praise in oil painting from the outside Western colleagues, he migrated to America. On at the moment lives with his family in Phoenix. The artist’s paintings are in corporate, museum and private collections in Europe, Canada, USA, Japan, Australia and Russia.

Andre Cohn is a recognized leader in the field of modern impressionism. With a mature and fresh imaginative style, he always creates the extraordinary out of the ordinary. The artist's objects are interpreted through the poetry of movement. In the American arena, the impressionist Andre Kohn is considered one of the most interesting figures.

Modern French impressionism in painting Laurent Parcelier

Laurent Parcelier- watercolor maestro, contemporary French impressionist. Characteristic of Porcellier's work is the clean and bright manner of conveying the places where the artist himself visited. the artist shines with light, brightness, impression. The author's strokes and tones are unique to him alone.

Contemporary American impressionism in painting Diane Leonard

Diana Leonard is one of those artists who gained instant popularity. She began creating at the age of 20 and almost immediately her talent was appreciated by experts in the field modern painting. Diane Leonard- an honored impressionist artist in his homeland, and also a part-time writer. The artist’s canvases will speak for themselves. Enjoy watching!

Contemporary impressionist artist Karen Tarlton

Karen Tarlton in one of her personal interviews she spoke about herself as a universal artist working in the genre of impressionism. According to her, the artist’s strength is plein air painting. The instrument in creating author's colorful paintings is, and with it the rich color palette. In her paintings, Karen Tarlton tries with all her might to inspire and delight the viewer with a combination of light, color and texture.

Karen is a current expert in impressionist palette knife painting. He often paints landscapes and portraits. Currently lives and works in Manhattan Beach, California.