IMPRESSIONIST

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The now famous art movement founded in the 19th- century Paris known as French Impressionism truly represents the genesis of modern art. At few points in the history of western art has there existed such a maelstrom of artistic revolutions as during this period. It all began in 1874 with a group of young painters who organized the first of eight exhibitions after being rejected by the official Paris Salon for not adhering to the fundamental standards of the Academy. The pioneers of Impressionism who banded together to organize these important exhibits included Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot, Armand Guillaumin and Paul Cézanne. Although they exhibited work together for just twelve years, from 1874 to 1886, many painters continued to work in an Impressionist mode for another thirty years, as in the case of Monet, the father of Impressionism, who worked in the Impressionist style until his death in 1926. The stylistic period following the last official Impressionist show is often described as Post-Impressionism, roughly 1886-1910, during which time Impressionism continued while additional artistic philosophies were developing.

The term Post-Impressionism is not useful in describing a distinct stylistic change from Impressionist painting, but rather a general expression for the gradual evolution of modern art that occurred during and after the Impressionist movement. While art historians attempt to clearly define artistic movements by classifying them within definitive years, in reality this is impossible to do. Many schools of painting overlapped and similarly most painters dabbled in a multitude of painting styles, especially during this transitory late-19th century. These schools are all loosely lumped together, for lack of a more definitive term, under the heading of a Post-Impressionism. This is a misnomer, however, because it merely indicates a particular time period.

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French Impressionism had far reaching effects both concurrently and subsequently in many countries worldwide. Americans, Belgians, Dutch, Italians and others took and adapted the plein-air techniques, depictions of modern day life and colorful brushwork, each country developing its own interpretation.