Impressionist paintings are impressive creations. Modern impressionism: paintings worth paying attention to

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, talented artists much more than ten, twenty or even a hundred, 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 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 often ended up in psychiatric hospitals due to depression, so all the rebellion 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 choosing 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 gray everyday life hard life: two years of service in the armed forces in Algeria, litigation with creditors due to poverty, illness. However, one gets the feeling that the difficulties did not oppress, but, on the contrary, inspired the artist to create such bright pictures, like “Impression, Sunrise”, “Houses of Parliament in London”, “Bridge to Europe”, “Autumn in Argenteuil”, “On the Shores of 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 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!

Alexandra Skripkina,

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 which owns unique technology 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 his Western colleagues, he migrated to America. On this 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

Contemporary impressionist artist Karen Tarlton

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

European art of the late 19th century was enriched by the emergence of modernism. Its influence later spread to music and literature. It was called “impressionism” because it was based on the artist’s subtlest impressions, images and moods.

Origins and history

Several young artists formed a group in the second half of the 19th century. They had a common goal and the same interests. The main thing for this company was to work in nature, without workshop walls and various limiting factors. In their paintings they sought to convey all the sensuality, the impression of the play of light and shadow. Landscapes and portraits reflected the unity of the soul with the Universe, with the surrounding world. Their paintings are true poetry of colors.

In 1874, an exhibition of this group of artists was held. Landscape by Claude Monet “Impression. Sunrise” caught the eye of the critic, who in his review for the first time called these creators impressionists (from the French impression - “impression”).

The prerequisites for the birth of the style of impressionism, the paintings of whose representatives would soon become incredible success, steel works of the Renaissance. The work of the Spaniards Velazquez, El Greco, the English Turner, Constable unconditionally influenced the French, who were the founders of impressionism.

Prominent representatives of the style in France were Pissarro, Manet, Degas, Sisley, Cézanne, Monet, Renoir and others.

Philosophy of impressionism in painting

The artists who painted in this style did not set themselves the task of attracting public attention to troubles. In their works one cannot find subjects on the topic of the day; one cannot receive a moral lesson or notice human contradictions.

Paintings in the impressionist style are aimed at conveying a momentary mood and developing color schemes mysterious nature. There is only room for a positive beginning in the works; gloominess avoided the impressionists.

In fact, the impressionists did not bother themselves with thinking through the plot and details. The most important factor was not what to draw, but how to depict and convey your mood.

Painting technique

The difference between the academic style of drawing and the technique of the impressionists is colossal. They simply abandoned many methods, and changed some beyond recognition. Here are the innovations they introduced:

1. We abandoned the circuit. It was replaced with strokes - small and contrasting.
2. We stopped using palettes for colors that complement each other and do not require merging to achieve a certain effect. For example, yellow is purple.
3. Stopped painting in black.
4. They completely abandoned work in workshops. They painted exclusively on location, to make it easier to capture a moment, an image, a feeling.
5. Only paints with good covering power were used.
6. We didn’t wait for the new layer to dry. Fresh strokes were applied immediately.
7. They created cycles of works to follow changes in light and shadow. For example, “Haystacks” by Claude Monet.

Of course, not all artists followed the exact features of the Impressionist style. Paintings by Édouard Manet, for example, never participated in joint exhibitions, and he positioned himself as a separate standing artist. Edgar Degas worked only in workshops, but this did not harm the quality of his works.

Representatives of French Impressionism

The first exhibition of Impressionist works dates back to 1874. 12 years later, their last exhibition took place. The first work in this style can be called “Lunch on the Grass” by E. Manet. This painting was presented in the “Salon of the Rejected”. It was met with hostility because it was very different from the academic canons. That is why Manet becomes a figure around whom a circle of followers of this stylistic movement gathers.

Unfortunately, contemporaries did not appreciate such a style as impressionism. Paintings and artists existed in disagreement with official art.

Gradually, Claude Monet came to the fore in the group of painters, who would later become their leader and the main ideologist of impressionism.

Claude Monet (1840—1926)

The work of this artist can be described as a hymn to impressionism. It was he who was the first to abandon the use of black in his paintings, citing the fact that even shadows and night have different tones.

The world in Monet’s paintings is unclear outlines, spacious strokes, looking at which you can feel the whole spectrum of the play of colors of day and night, seasons, and the harmony of the sublunary world. Just a moment that was snatched from the flow of life, in Monet’s understanding, is impressionism. His paintings seem to have no materiality; they are all saturated with rays of light and air currents.

Claude Monet created amazing works: “Gare Saint-Lazare”, “Rouen Cathedral”, the “Charing Cross Bridge” series and many others.

Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

Renoir's creations create the impression of extraordinary lightness, airiness, and ethereality. The plot was born as if by chance, but it is known that the artist carefully thought through all stages of his work and worked from morning to night.

A distinctive feature of O. Renoir's work is the use of glaze, which is only possible when painting. Impressionism in the artist's works is manifested in every stroke. He perceives a person as a particle of nature itself, which is why there are so many paintings with nudes.

Renoir's favorite pastime was depicting a woman in all her attractive and attractive beauty. Portraits occupy a special place in creative life artist. “Umbrellas”, “Girl with a Fan”, “Breakfast of the Rowers” ​​are only a small part of the amazing collection of paintings by Auguste Renoir.

Georges Seurat (1859-1891)

Seurat associated the process of creating paintings with scientific basis color theory. The light-air environment was drawn based on the dependence of the main and additional tones.

Despite the fact that J. Seurat is a representative of the final stage of impressionism, and his technique is in many ways different from the founders, he, in the same way, creates with the help of strokes an illusory representation of an object form, which can be viewed and seen only from a distance.

The paintings “Sunday Afternoon”, “Cancan”, “Models” can be called masterpieces of creativity.

Representatives of Russian impressionism

Russian impressionism arose almost spontaneously, mixing many phenomena and methods. However, the basis, like the French, was a natural vision of the process.

In Russian impressionism, although the features of the French were preserved, the peculiarities of national nature and state of mind made significant changes. For example, visions of snow or northern landscapes were expressed using unusual techniques.

In Russia, few artists worked in the impressionist style; their paintings still attract attention to this day.

The impressionistic period can be distinguished in the work of Valentin Serov. His "Girl with Peaches" - the clearest example and the standard of this style in Russia.

The paintings captivate with their freshness and harmony of pure colors. The main topic The work of this artist is the image of a person in nature. “Northern Idyll”, “In a Boat”, “Fedor Chaliapin” are bright milestones in K. Korovin’s work.

Impressionism in modern times

Currently, this direction in art has received new life. IN this style several artists paint their own paintings. Modern impressionism exists in Russia (Andre Cohn), in France (Laurent Parselier), in America (Diana Leonard).

Andre Cohn is the most prominent representative of the new impressionism. His oil paintings are striking in their simplicity. The artist sees beauty in everyday things. The creator interprets many objects through the prism of movement.

The whole world knows Laurent Parselier's watercolor works. His series of works Strange world"was released in the form of postcards. Magnificent, vibrant and sensual, they will take your breath away.

As in the 19th century, in currently artists remain plein air painting. Thanks to her, impressionism will live forever. artists continue to be inspired, impressed and encouraged.

Today, impressionism is perceived as a classic, but in the era of its formation it was a real revolutionary breakthrough in art. Innovation and ideas in this direction have completely changed artistic perception art of the 19th and 20th centuries. And modern impressionism in painting inherits principles that have already become canonical and continues aesthetic searches in the transmission of sensations, emotions and light.

Prerequisites

There are several reasons for the emergence of impressionism; this is a whole complex of prerequisites that led to a real revolution in art. In the 19th century French painting a crisis was brewing; it was due to the fact that “official” criticism did not want to notice and allow various emerging new forms into the galleries. Therefore, painting in impressionism became a kind of protest against the inertia and conservatism of generally accepted norms. Also, the origins of this movement should be sought in the trends inherent in the Renaissance and associated with attempts to convey living reality. The artists of the Venetian school are considered the first progenitors of impressionism, then the Spaniards took this path: El Greco, Goya, Velazquez, who directly influenced Manet and Renoir. He also played a role in the formation of this school. technical progress. Thus, the appearance of photography gave rise to new idea in art it’s about capturing momentary emotions and sensations. It is this instantaneous impression that the artists of the movement we are considering strive to “capture.” The development of the plein air school, which was founded by representatives of the Barbizon school, also had an influence on this trend.

History of impressionism

In the second half of the 19th century in French art a critical situation is developing. Representatives classical school they do not accept the innovations of young artists and do not allow them to attend the Salon - the only exhibition that opens the way to customers. A scandal broke out when the young Edouard Manet presented his work “Luncheon on the Grass.” The painting aroused the indignation of critics and the public, and the artist was forbidden to exhibit it. Therefore, Manet participates in the so-called “Salon of the Rejected” along with other painters who were not allowed to participate in the exhibition. The work received a huge response, and a circle of young artists began to form around Manet. They gathered in a cafe and discussed problems contemporary art, argued about new forms. A society of painters appears who will be called impressionists after one of Claude Monet’s works. This community included Pissarro, Renoir, Cezanne, Monet, Basil, Degas. The first exhibition of artists of this movement took place in 1874 in Paris and ended, like all subsequent ones, in failure. Actually, impressionism in music and painting covers a period of only 12 years, from the first exhibition to the last, held in 1886. Later, the movement begins to disintegrate into new movements, and some artists die. But this period brought about a real revolution in the minds of creators and the public.

Ideological principles

Unlike many other movements, painting in impressionism was not associated with deep philosophical views. The ideology of this school was momentary experience, impression. The artists did not set themselves social goals; they sought to convey the fullness and joy of life in everyday life. Therefore, the genre system of impressionism was generally very traditional: landscapes, portraits, still lifes. This direction is not a unification of people based on philosophical views, but a community of like-minded people, each of whom conducts his own quest to study the form of being. Impressionism lies precisely in the uniqueness of the view of ordinary objects; it is focused on individual experience.

Technique

It is quite easy to recognize painting in impressionism by some characteristic features. First of all, it is worth remembering that the artists of this movement were ardent lovers of color. They almost completely abandon black and brown in favor of a rich, bright palette, often heavily bleached. The Impressionist technique is characterized by short strokes. They strive for a general impression rather than careful drawing of details. The canvases are dynamic and intermittent, which corresponds to human perception. Painters strive to place colors on the canvas in such a way as to achieve coloristic intensity or proximity in the picture; they do not mix colors on the palette. Artists often worked plein air, and this was reflected in the technique, which did not have time to dry the previous layers. The paints were applied side by side or one on top of the other, and an opaque material was used, which made it possible to create the effect of an “inner glow.”

Main representatives in French painting

The birthplace of this movement is France; it was here that impressionism first appeared in painting. Artists of this school lived in Paris in the second half of the 19th century. They presented their works at 8 Impressionist exhibitions, and these paintings became classics of the movement. It is the Frenchmen Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Pissarro, Morisot and others who are the progenitors of the movement we are considering. The most famous impressionist, of course, is Claude Monet, whose works fully embodied all the features of this movement. Also, the movement is rightly associated with the name of Auguste Renoir, who, with his main artistic task considered the transmission of the game of the sun; in addition, he was a master of sentimental portraiture. Impressionism also includes such outstanding artists like Van Gogh, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin.

Impressionism in other countries

Gradually the direction is spreading in many countries, the French experience has been successfully picked up in others national cultures, although they have to talk more about individual works and techniques than about the consistent implementation of ideas. German painting in impressionism is represented primarily by the names of Lesser Ury, Max Liebermann, Lovis Corinth. In the USA, ideas were implemented by J. Whistler, in Spain - by H. Sorolla, in England - by J. Sargent, in Sweden - by A. Zorn.

Impressionism in Russia

Russian art in the 19th century was significantly influenced by French culture, therefore domestic artists It was also not possible to avoid being carried away by the new trend. Russian impressionism in painting is most consistently and fruitfully represented in the works of Konstantin Korovin, as well as in the works of Igor Grabar, Isaac Levitan, Valentin Serov. The peculiarities of the Russian school were the etude nature of the works.

What was impressionism in painting? The founding artists sought to capture momentary impressions of contact with nature, and Russian creators also tried to convey a deeper, philosophical meaning works.

Impressionism today

Despite the fact that almost 150 years have passed since the emergence of the movement, modern impressionism in painting has not lost its relevance today. Thanks to their emotionality and ease of perception, paintings in this style are very popular and even commercially successful. Therefore, many artists around the world are working in this direction. Thus, Russian impressionism in painting is presented in the new Moscow museum of the same name. Exhibitions are held there regularly modern authors, for example V. Koshlyakov, N. Bondarenko, B. Gladchenko and others.

Masterpieces

Modern lovers of fine art often call impressionism in painting their favorite movement. Paintings by artists of this school are sold at auctions at incredible prices, and collections in museums enjoy great public attention. The main masterpieces of impressionism are considered to be paintings by K. Monet “Water Lilies” and “ Rising Sun”, O. Renoir “Ball at the Moulin de la Galette”, C. Pissarro “Boulevard Montmartre at night” and “Boieldieu Bridge in Rouen on a rainy day”, E. Degas “Absinthe”, although this list can be continued almost endlessly.

Alexey Zaitsev- one of the brightest representatives impressionism. Works of this contemporary artist well known not only in Russia, but also abroad. The master paints in oils, generously applying strokes, but the paintings turn out light and sunny. Perhaps this is the secret of the charm of his paintings.