American Impressionism is an art movement characterized by its use of broken brushstrokes, asymmetrical balance, pure colors, colored shadows, and outdoor scene painting. Impressionism originated in the middle of the nineteenth century and was adopted by American artists in the country at the start of the twentieth century.
The colors and vivid brushwork of French Impressionism amazed American painters like much of the art world, and by the end of the century, American Impressionism had taken off (Wilmerding, 1976). Bright colors and free brushstrokes were used by American Impressionists to depict the simple beauty of daily life in the country. Whether depicting the natural world or urban vitality, the American Impressionists broke academic painting customary beliefs, ushering in America’s first popular, modern art movement.
Paul Durand-Ruel arranged the American Art Association presented the first exhibition in New York in 1886. Following trips to France and meetings with impressionists like Claude Monet, some of the earliest American artists to work in this style were Theodore Robinson and Mary Cassatt. Other major artists who joined include John Singer Sargent, Childe Hassam, James Abbott McNeill Whistler and William M. Chase.
Like their European counterparts, American impressionists were primarily interested in landscapes, but often depicted scenes of serene domesticity. American Impressionism flourished in art colonies, loosely associated groups of artists who lived and worked together and shared a common aesthetic vision, from the 1890s through the 1910s. Some of the major artworks Low Tide, Riverside Yacht Club, 1894, Poppies, Isles of Shoals, 1891, The Avenue in the Rain, 1917, In the Loge, 1878, and The Boating Party, 1893-1894.
The American Impressionist artists established new organizations for the development and exhibition of their work; these innovations would outlast the popularity of the movement. The movement and numerous artist colonies and exhibition associations had a pivotal role in expanding the scope of American art beyond academic art. The Ashcan School’s arrival in 1910 began to shift the tides in the American art scene. Impressionism in America further lost its avant-garde prestige in 1913 when the 69th Regiment Armory building in New York City hosted a significant contemporary art show. A new painting style that was seen as more in tune with the world’s rising speed and chaos—especially with the start of World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II—was heralded by the “Armory Show,” as it came to be known.
History of American Impressionism
How American Impressionism began
Following the end of the Civil War in 1865, the United States rose to first-rate worldwide political and economic stature. American art patrons, particularly Northerners who had amassed riches during the war, traveled overseas and imbibed European culture. Building opulent homes and furnishing them with imported decorative arts, and paintings by contemporary academics and old masters, they made a bold statement about their money and sophistication. Even when French Impressionism lost its luster, American Impressionism gained value. Many artists left America to study and work in Europe, satisfying the aspirations of the newly affluent elements of society and their potential consumers. This movement’s legacy persisted in America.
Many Americans traveled to Paris in an attempt to compete with the European masters whose works of art wealthy American art patrons so desperately desired. They enrolled in the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts to study painting and sculpture, or they studied with some of the most important Impressionist artists in their studios or privately run academies. The female painter Mary Cassatt was one of the first American writers to fall under the spell of Impressionism, showing the other side of this movement’s enthusiasts.
Similar to its European counterpart, American Impressionism witnessed a convergence of painters who drew inspiration from Monet’s landscape paintings to reflect contemporary life as it exists now and the tradition of painting outdoors. When the Barbizon School became the most popular landscape painting style in the United States, American artists became aware of this new method. Just a small percentage of American landscape painters gave in to the spontaneity of the European movement’s vocabulary, but the majority persisted in creating realistic style portraits and Barbizon School landscape paintings due to their exceptional naturalism and minute observation of nature.
Growth of American impressionism
Combining European sophistication with noticeable American subject matter, Impressionism became widely accepted as a legitimate painting style for American painters by the early 1890s. Comparing the Americans to the French group, the Americans were far more cosmopolitan. The American Impressionists witnessed the shift from a rural to an industrialized urban civilization in both Europe and the United States. Many American artists shared the French Impressionists conviction that modern urban life should be captured in vibrant modern style, even though some only adapted the superficial effects of Impressionism to suit consumers’ changing tastes. Their paintings seem to be filled with meanings inherent in the things they painted, as well as light and color, just like those of their French counterparts. Some responded in quickly rendered vignettes to the fragmented experience that typified the age, drawn by the vitality of urban life. As the number of upper-class customers increased, American Impressionism swiftly gained popularity by fusing European refinement with identifiably American subject matter.
American Impressionism drew on the landscape painting practiced by the Tonalists and the Hudson River School notably focusing on immersion in nature and attention to light and color.
However, the transcendentalist visions of earlier American landscape paintings from the 19th century differed from the Impressionist concern in ordinary life and scenes.
The End of American Impression
Many American artists continued to create in the Impressionist style until the 1920s, but originality had long ago withered. The less refined Ashcan School of urban realists’ style had become apparent by 1910. In 1913, the Armory Show’s massive exhibition of avant-garde European art made even the Ashcan School appear out of date. However, the American Impressionists’ emphasis on well-known subjects and quick technique had a lasting impression on American painting.
Schools of American Impressionism
The Schools of American Impressionism include: Connecticut Impressionism, California Impressionism, Pennsylvania Impressionism, The Boston School, the Hoosier Group, The Richmond Group, and The Ten American Painters.
Connecticut Impressionism
Connecticut served as a significant creative breeding ground for American Impressionism throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of the classic Impressionist scenes painted during those years are scenes of Connecticut, when skilled painters settled in art colonies at Florence Griswold’s boarding house in Old Lyme and on Cos Cob. Impressionist masterpieces can now be seen in numerous museums throughout the state as a result of this rich legacy. It encompasses the work of artists such as J. Alden Weir and Theodore Robinson and John Henry Twachtman. Characteristics of it’s art include: Focus on landscapes, rural scenes, and atmospheric effects, Painting en plein air to capture natural light and color and Emphasized spontaneity and impressionistic brushwork.
California Impressionism
California Impressionists created their works in outdoor settings. In the first three decades following the start of the 20th century, their work gained popularity in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area. The California Impressionists are a subsection of the California Plein-Air School and are said to represent a regional take on American Impressionism. Artists like Guy Rose, William Wendt, Granville Redmond participated, The art emphasized on California’s landscapes, coastal scenes, and light, Bright color palette and loose brushwork influenced by French Impressionism and subjects often included beach scenes, eucalyptus groves, and desert landscapes.
Pennsylvania Impressionism
Pennsylvania Impressionism emerged in the first half of the 20th century in and around Bucks County, Pennsylvania, especially the town of New Hope. The movement in landscape painting is also called the “Pennsylvania School” or the “New Hope School.” Some of the artists involved include: William Merritt Chase, Thomas Pollock Anshutz, Edward Redfield. Characteristics of the art include: Blend of Impressionist techniques with academic realism, Urban scenes, portraits, and genre paintings depicting everyday American life and Chase’s dynamic brushwork and Anshutz’s sensitive portraits are notable examples.
Boston School
Boston School was formed by Frank W. Benson, Joseph DeCamp, and Edmund C. Tarbell formed circle in Boston, Massachusetts, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They are recognized for their figure painting, portraits, and interior design work. Located in the center of Boston’s intellectual and cultural life, these artists painstakingly depicted settings with an acute sense of light and atmosphere, preferring a muted color scheme that heightened the mood of their pieces. Inspired by the Impressionist movement’s emphasis on capturing transient moments as well as academic traditions that emphasized technical accuracy, they produced works of art that struck a balance between contemporary innovation and traditional composition and technique. Boston School, made significant contributions to the larger field of American painting during their period as well as helping to shape the local character of American art.
Hoosier Group
Hoosier Group active in the late 19th and early 20th century was formed by Indiana Impressionist artist. Otto Stark, J. Ottis Adams, William Forsyth, Richard Gruelle, and T. C. Steele are among the artists who belonged to the Group. Their collective work is mostly recognized for its depictions of the Indiana countryside.ate 19th to early 20th century. Name of Artists who participated are T.C. Steele, William Forsyth, Otto Stark, Characteristics of it’s art include: Focus on regional landscapes, rural scenes, and genre painting, Strong emphasis on naturalism and capturing the essence of Midwestern life,Steele’s landscapes and Forsyth’s intimate genre scenes characterize the group
Richmond Group
Richmond Group was established by artists like John Elwood Bundy, John Otis Adams, and Theodore Clement Steele in Richmond, Indiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Richmond Group were well-known for their portrayals of American rural life and landscapes. These painters, who were based in Richmond, Indiana, were influenced by the Impressionist movement’s methods of capturing light and mood as well as the newly popular American Regionalism movement’s emphasis on presenting the local environment and cultural identity. Their paintings frequently reflected the peaceful serenity of the rural Midwest, combining impressionistic brushwork with a strong sense of place to depict verdant landscapes, placid farm scenes, and the changing of the seasons. Through their vivid and timeless paintings, this artistic circle made a significant contribution to the portrayal of the American heartland and its particular character.
Ten American Painters
The Ten American Painters, or simply The Ten, were a group of artists that came together in 1898 to show their work as a cohesive unit. The organization was led by Childe Hassam, J. Alden Weir, and John Henry Twachtman. The three artists, dissatisfied with the conservatism of the American art establishment, gathered seven more from Boston, New York City, and other East Coast locations to form an exhibiting society that would honor their ideas about creativity, originality, and exhibition quality. The Ten were a popular and critical success, and they existed for 20 years until breaking up.
Other members of The Ten were Frank W. Benson, Edmund C. Tarbell, Childe Hassam, Willard Leroy Metcalf, Robert Reid, and Edward Simmons. Each had previously belonged to the Society of American Artists. Abbott Handerson Thayer accepted membership in the group but withdrew prior to the organization’s debut show, while Winslow Homer turned down the opportunity to join. William Merritt Chase joined in 1902 following the death of J. H. Twachtman. To be accepted into the society, a new member needed to have unanimous consent. It was also established that in order for the group to continue as a unit, there would always be ten or more active members.
Characteristics of American Impressionism Art
American Impressionism Art is characterized by its asymmetrical balance, broken brushstrokes,Use of Pure Color, use of Colored Shadows, ‘En Plein Air’ and Everyday Scenes.
Asymmetrical Balance
The goal of impressionist painters in America was to convey a feeling of immediacy. They focused on new compositional techniques such asymmetrical compositions, clipped forms, and diving perspective. More restrained and distinctly balanced compositions were preferred by earlier Renaissance painters. The central picture, which was frequently pyramidal in shape, was surrounded by equally weighted figures on either side. These painters frequently produced landscapes with trees or other structures framing either side and intervals that were precisely calculated to produce a recession into space.
Broken Brushstrokes
Impressionism was characterized by a particular kind of brushstroke that was brief, mottled, and repeated. While some Impressionists, like John Singer Sargent, combined these free brushstrokes with more meticulous and detailed sections of painting, others, like Camille Pissarro and Claude Monet, adopted this method more overtly and directly. The Impressionists were well-suited to this painting approach because it made it feasible for them to quickly work directly from life and capture the ephemeral essence of the moment as light flickered through patchy skies or onto dappled grounds.
Use of Pure Color
Traditionally, before putting paint on a canvas, artists would mix colors on their palette to obtain a certain hue or color. Like their French counterparts, a few American Impressionists defied this formula by using fresh, pure prismatic colors straight from the new tin tubes, blended on the palette and applied directly to the canvas. Even if each color is applied separately, up close, the human eye would perceive them as one, creating the illusion of flickering light and a vibrating ambiance.
In the article “American Impressionism, Matteness, and Varnishing”, Mayer and Myers state that black interfered with the soft and airy tones of the other paintings in their palette and hence several Impressionists prohibited the use of black in their palettes. Rather, they would frequently use a contrasting darker hue to paint regions of more definition and shadow. For instance, in many of his paintings, Claude Monet uses a combination of blue and orange to produce darker areas, and in Pissarro’s work, spots of dark red are dotted throughout green trees to provide definition.
Use of Colored Shadows
American impressionists have always been concerned in depicting light and the dance of shadows. Prior to the Impressionists, generations of painters employed neutral hues for highlights and black and gray for shadows. The Impressionists replaced this method of casting shadows with color. Purples, yellows, and other hues were frequently used by artists to imply colorful shadows and reflected light. They enhanced the coloristic effects that drew their attention when painting outside by doing this. Hassam suggests shadows beneath trees or at the margins of boulders by utilizing a variety of dark greens and even blues.
‘En Plein Air’
Most French Impressionists created their works in the open air, with direct inspiration from life, drawing inspiration from the Barbizon School. They produced works that were quickly created and had a fresh, fluid, and spontaneous quality as a result of being able to react quickly and instinctively to the subject in front of them. Influenced by the French Realist painters such as Edouard Manet and Gustave Courbet, numerous Impressionists also depicted scenes from ordinary life, observing individuals going about their daily activities. Both Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot created warm and sensitive paintings of close family members going about their daily lives.
American Impressionism Artists
The Major artists discussed include Theodore Robinson, Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, John Singer Sargent, and Childe Hassam. See below for brief biographies of these artists:
Theodore Robinson
- Artist Name: Theodore Robinson
- Born: June 3, 1852 Irasburg, Vermont, US
- Died: April 2, 1896 (aged 43) New York City, US
- Notable Artwork:
- The Layette, (1882)
- Girl at Piano, (c. 1887)
- By the River, (1887)
- The Wedding March, (1892)
Theodore Robinson attended the Art Institute of Chicago in 1869. He moved to Paris shortly afterward, where he studied under conservative professors Carolus-Duran and Jean-Léon Gérôme. Hungering and penniless, he made his way back to New York, where he made friends and secured a job with John La Farge. He was frequently forced to teach due to financial constraints, which he never liked. This might have been due to the severe asthma attacks he experienced as a child, which severely drained his energy and finally caused his premature death.
During these early years, a persistent theme appeared in his work. He frequently painted single female figures in landscapes in accurately produced rustic genre situations, in a style reminiscent of Winslow Homer and Eastman Johnson’s earlier work.
Theodore Robinson went back to France in 1884 and stayed there for eight years. He immediately moved to Giverny and became close friends and neighbors with Monet, often taking advantage of the younger artist’s hospitality and criticism. While retaining the American aesthetic’s shape and structure, his work there took on elements of the French school, such as rich color and flickering light, broken brushstrokes, and repeating diagonal sections of mottled color. His abilities and closeness to Monet drove him to the center of the American entourage at Giverny, where he used authority and influence to impart impressionist ideas and techniques to his fellow compatriots.
In 1892 he returned to America to apply his impressionist vision to his native landscape. He worked with Weir and Twachtman at Cos Cob in Connecticut, painted the picturesque canals of New York State, and finally gravitated to a Giverny of his own in his home state of Vermont. But within four years of his return, ill health overcame him and he died alone and penniless. His final canvases, lacking patrons, were auctioned at an estate sale.
Childe Hassam
- Artist Name: Childe Hassam
- Born: 17 October 1859, Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- Died: 27 August 1935 (age 75 years), East Hampton, New York, United States
- Notable Artwork:
- Mt. Beacon at Newburgh, 1916
- April – (The Green Gown)
- Girl in a Modern Gown, 1922
- Coast Scene, Isles of Shoal, 1901
Childe Hassam captured the spirit of distinct New York and Parisian communities. However, the majority of American Impressionists choose to depict the rural areas that urbanites, including themselves, and their clients, fled to. He took a break from modern life and the portrait studio in England, painting pastoral scenes in Broadway, a lovely village in the Cotswolds. Repatriated Impressionists founded similar beautiful communities such as Southampton, New York, where Chase taught and worked, and the Isles of Shoals, off the coast of New Hampshire, where Hassam painted. Alone in other unique rural settings, some American Impressionists created their works. Twachtman drew inspiration from his Connecticut estate in Greenwich.
Mary Cassatt
- Artist Name: Mary Cassatt
- Born: May 22, 1844 – Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, United States
- Died: June 14, 1926 – Mesnil-Theribus, Oise, France
- Notable Artwork:
- Little Girl in Blue Armchair (1878)
- In the Loge (1878)
- Lydia Reading the Morning Paper (No. 1) (1878-79)
Mary Cassatt studied academic art alongside Jean-Léon Gérôme in Paris in the 1860s. She went on to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts for two years before heading back to Paris in 1874. Edgar Degas became interested in her work and invited her to exhibit with the group in 1877. Despite developing her painting technique among artists like Degas and Camille Pissarro, she was viewed as an outcast due to her status as an American woman. Cassatt frequently painted images interiors of homes and feminine motifs. Since she was unable to attend the racetracks, dance schools, and cafes that her male contemporary artists frequented, Cassatt depicted the rooms and settings that she could easily reach among her friends.
Mary Cassatt’s paintings was also featured in the first major exhibition of French Impressionist work in the US (1886), cementing her position as an artist who provided a bridge between French and American Impressionism. She frequently painted images of mothers with their children, a subject that was often understood as a secular version of religious images. Cassatt offered American Impressionists a model for painting calm scenes of domestic tranquility, a key subject matter for the group.
John Singer Sargent
- Artist Name: John Singer Sargent
- Born: 12 January 1856, Florence, Italy
- Died: April 1925 (age 69 years), London, United Kingdom
- Notable Artworks:
- The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit (1882)
- Portrait of Madame X (1884)
- Mrs. Carl Meyer and Her Children (1896)
- Bedouins (1905-06)
John Singer Sargent was brought up by expatriate American parents, and while studying in Paris in 1874, he met Claude Monet two years later. Monet encouraged him and his colleagues to paint lively urban scenes. During the mid-1880s, when French Impressionism lost its revolutionary edge, American collectors began to admire the style, and more American artists began to explore with it after learning the principles.He contributed significantly to the growth of Impressionism in American by bringing new concepts from Paris.
John Sargent’s style mixed elements of Impressionism with traditional academic portraiture, emphasizing direct observation and the outdoors. His work is distinguished by extraordinary technical skill, especially in his brush artistry, which later drew praise and criticism for what was perceived to be its superficiality. His commissions adhered to the formalistic style of portraiture, while his free-form studies and landscape paintings revealed an Impressionist sensibility. Later in life, Sargent exhibited conflicting feelings regarding the limitations of creating formal portraits and focused much of his efforts on painting murals and outdoor painting.
William Merritt Chase
- Artist Name: William Merritt Chase
- Born: November 1, 1849 – Williamsburg, Indiana
- Died: October 25, 1916 – New York, New York
- Notable Artwork:
- The Tenth Street Studio (1880)
- Portrait of Dora Wheeler (1882-83)
- A Comfortable Corner (1888)
William Merritt Chase was among the first American artists to incorporate Impressionism into their work. Chase was eclectic, much like the majority of his American contemporaries, proudly appropriating several international styles from the past and present. Even while he was a student, he was an avid collector who bought paintings, props, and bric-a-brac. His appeal among Long Island’s social elite, where he directed the Shinnecock Hills Summer School of Art, contributed to Impressionism’s reputation as a collectable new style.
William Chase’s Impressionist style is best shown by his series of paintings from Prospect Park in Brooklyn, which he created and displayed in 1886. In a little lake, Chase imagines his future wife relaxing in a rowboat. The park provided an easy location for outdoor painting. Chase’s idea of refined leisure and refined connection with light and environment found its ideal setting in the park. Although Chase’s palette is noticeably less vibrant than that of typical French Impressionist painting, the image yet has the sweeping brushstrokes and concern in the movement of light that define Impressionist art.
American Impressionism Artwork
The major artwork of the art movement include : Low Tide, Riverside Yacht Club, 1894, Poppies, Isles of Shoals, 1891, The Avenue in the Rain, 1917, In the Loge, 1878, and The Boating Party, 1893-1894.
Low Tide, Riverside Yacht Club
- Artwork Name: Low Tide, Riverside Yacht Club
- Artist: Theodore Robinson
- Year: 1894
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 18 x 24 in. (45.7 x 61 cm)
Low Tide, Riverside Yacht, exemplifies American Impressionism’s embrace of light, color, and natural settings. The painting reveals how the painter synthesized the earlier influence of Claude Monet with a newfound impressionist interest in Japanese prints.
The artist employs a palette of soft pastels and muted earth tones, creating a tranquil and atmospheric scene. The brushstrokes are loose and expressive, convey the play of light on the water and the surrounding landscape. This piece reflects the movement’s focus on capturing fleeting moments of beauty in everyday life, as well as the American affinity for depicting the nation’s burgeoning leisure activities and scenic vistas. The composition’s balance between the calm water, sky, and boats evokes a sense of peace and reflection, inviting viewers to contemplate the harmony between human activity and nature.
Poppies, Isles of Shoals
- Artwork Name: Poppies, Isles of Shoals
- Artist: Childe Hassam
- Year: 1891
- Medium: Oil Paint
- Dimensions: 50 cm x 61 cm
Poppies, Isles of Shoals depicts a large perspective that transitions from a dense foreground of blossoms to a background of water, rocks, and sky. Hassam painted this scene numerous times, and it was one of his favorites. It was centered on a protrusion known as Babb’s Rock. Despite Celia Thaxter’s garden containing numerous evidence of human presence, Hassam usually avoided including them in his paintings. Only a sailing boat indicates that we are not in a pristine, untamed environment.
The composition is separated into three equal and separate bands of space, each with a dominant color—pale blue for the sky, purple, blue, and white for the rocks and water, and red and green for the flowers. Similarly variegated is Hassam’s brushwork, which ranges from lengthy drags of pigment evoking the multi-hued surfaces of the rocks to gorgeous red and white strokes identifying the flowers. He added more color and texture at the bottom by leaving some portions of the canvas bare.
The Avenue in the Rain
- Artwork Name: The Avenue in the Rain
- Artist: Childe Hassam
- Year: 1917
- Periods: Impressionism, American Impressionism
- Medium: Oil Paint
- Dimensions: 42 by 22.25-inch (106.7 cm × 56.5 cm)
The Avenue in the Rain depicts American flags flying on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. It was completed during the height of Hassam’s artistic abilities and is one of about thirty such paintings of streets decked with flags that the artist created between 1916 and 1919, during and right after World War I. In addition to showing flags hung from Fifth Avenue, the artwork also shows the flags’ reflections in water after rainfall. In the distance, a number of shadowy individuals are carrying umbrellas. The flags appear to be suspended in midair from poles that protrude from buildings that are hidden from view. The damp sidewalks and street reflect their images.
The most remarkable technique used by Childe Hassam in this painting is the projection of flags onto a quarter of the painting’s surface from hidden anchor points outside the frame. In a way, the tall “hanging” format, which mimics the shape of a flag, reinforces the flags’ identity as the painting’s surface.
In the Loge
- Artwork Name: In the Loge
- Artist: Mary Stevenson Cassatt (American, 1844–1926)
- Year: 1878
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 32 1/16 × 23 7/16 inches (81.5 × 59.5 cm)
In the Loge depicts an affluent lady at the opera house peering through her opera glasses while the male figure in the background looks at her. The viewer completes the circle by seeing them both. The act of gazing itself is explored in Cassatt’s painting, which dissolves the conventional barriers between the performance and the audience as well as between the observer and the observed.
The woman’s upper class background is evident from her attire and fan. This sequence of glances recalls Cassatt’s focused observation during the process of creating the painting.
The Boating Party
- Artwork Name: The Boating Party
- Artist: Mary Cassatt
- Year: 1893-1894
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 90 cm × 117.3 cm (46 3/16 in × 35 7/16 in)
The Boating Party displays the impact of Japanese prints, which were quite popular in Paris in the late 1800s and had flat, patterned surfaces, reduced color schemes, and unique angles. A sense of distance is collapsed as the horizon is pushed to the top and the picture is compressed onto the flat plane of the canvas by the man’s dark figure. We have an oblique view of the boat from our higher vantage point. The intersection of its horizontal supports divides its form into ornamental shapes.
American Impressionism vs. French Impressionism
The American Impressionists, like their French counterparts, each had a unique style and painted a variety of subjects, such as interior scenes and landscapes. Classically Impressionist subjects appeared in France and America. Many American artists, like Monet in France, painted the New England coastline to explore the effect of light on water.The scenes they captured, however, were clearly New World.
While in Europe, Americans enjoyed painting the same scenes as their European counterparts—boulevards, dance halls, parks in the open air, rolling fields and seascapes, Parisian landmarks like train stations and cathedrals, etc.—but after the First World War, many of them had returned home and started painting the American scene instead of the European scene seriously.
Like the French occasionally did, many Americans were hesitant to dispel the illusion of three dimensions. The outlines or hard edges of objects, their contours, and the sense of three-dimensional space frequently disappear beneath the bright glare of portrayed light in French impressionist paintings to the point where the illusion of materialism is gone. The American goal was to achieve the same sensation of vivid sensuality on the canvas surface as the French, but without losing the sense of the mass of objects within a convincing illusion of space.
American Impressionism vs. Realism
Both Impressionism and Realism were revolutionary art movements that sprang out of Paris in the 19th century. Both styles marked the beginning of modernism and featured images of everyday, contemporary life. They share stylistic characteristics, as do many historically overlapping art movements.
Realism was the first of the two art movements that emerged, appearing in Paris in the early to mid-19th century. The idealizing tendencies of previous Romanticism were rejected by realist painters like Gustave Courbet, Jean-Francois Millet, and Edouard Manet, who instead chose to concentrate on the grim realities of everyday life.
Realism laid the groundwork for Impressionism. Similar to the Realists, the Impressionists depicted scenes from actual life rather than imaginary or mythical realms. As a result, these movements brought art closer to the everyday world, increasing its accessibility for a larger audience and introducing the modernist perspective on art.
Realism focused on dark, somber, and depressing subjects, emphasizing the average man’s Sisyphean condition. Realists were especially fond of painting farm laborers since they performed hard, monotonous jobs for little pay. Impressionists, on the other hand, typically painted lighter, more whimsical scenes that celebrated outdoor activities, gardens and landscapes, cafés culture, the theater, and bustling street life.
What Art Movements Influenced American Impressionism?
American impressionism was greatly influenced by French Impressionism. It was also influenced by the Barbizon School‘s emphasis on realistic rural landscapes and outdoor painting, which encouraged artists to paint outside and capture natural atmospheric effects.
Tonalism influenced the subdued color harmonies and mood-driven landscapes that characterize American Impressionist paintings. The American artists adopted the Hudson River School‘s emphasis on portraying the American landscape, but they did so in a more direct and sensuous manner.
The Japanese woodblock prints paved way for the distinctive fusion of European inspirations and American subject matter because of the effect and advancements in optical and color theories on their techniques and aesthetic decisions.
What Art Movements Were Influenced by American Impressionism?
Many American artists continued to create in the Impressionist style until the 1920s, but creativity had diminished. The Ashcan School, a less genteel approach to urban realists, debuted in 1910. In 1913, the Armory Show’s massive display of avant-garde European art made the Ashcan School appear out of date. Nevertheless, the American Impressionists’ emphasis on well-known subjects and quick technique had a lasting impression on American painting.
What Museums are Dedicated to American Impressionism?
Museums that are dedicated to American Impressionism include the Westerly Museum of American Impressionism, the Florence Griswald Museum, and the Musee d’Arte Americain in Giverny. See below for a summary of these museums:
Westerly Museum of American Impressionism
The Westerly Museum of American Impressionism (WMAI) is situated on Watch Hill Road, facing Babcock Cove, in a scenic Rhode Island location. The 20,000 square feet of the museum are repurposed inside to hold 13 galleries that may hold the permanent collection as well as rotating exhibitions.
The building’s original flat ceilings have been carefully removed and raised to allow new skylights to provide controlled natural light into the galleries. Visitors can view the colorful works of renowned artists including Childe Hassam, Robert Reid, Jane Peterson, Louise Upton Brumback, and Charles Courtney Curran in the museum’s galleries. These paintings encapsulate the spirit of prominent picturesque locations in New England and the East Coast.
The Florence Griswald Museum
The Florence Griswold Museum is an art museum located at 96 Lyme Street in Old Lyme, Connecticut. The 12-acre complex features historic grounds, houses, gardens, and walking routes. It is focused on Florence Griswold’s (1850–1937) house, which served as the hub of the Old Lyme Art Colony, a significant American Impressionist hub. The paintings in the Museum’s collection of American Impressionists are well-known. In 1993, the home received the designation of National Historic Landmark.
Musee d’Arte Americain, Giverny
The Musée d’Art Américain was founded in Giverny in 1992 to investigate the historical and artistic ties between French and American artists. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, this village—home to impressionist Claude Monet—served as the site of a well-known American artists’ colony. Many of these painters experimented with the impressionist style in Giverny, and the outcome helped to forge the permanent connection between French and American art.
References
- Mayer, L., & Myers, G. (2004). American impressionism, matteness, and varnishing. Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, 43(3), 237-254.
- Wilmerding, J. (1976). American Impressionism.
More Artwork on Artchive
| Artwork Name | Artist Name | Year | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Cezanne | Vase of Flowers | 1900 - 1903 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Victor Chocquet | 1882 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | View of Auvers | 1873 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | View of Bonnieres | 1866 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Bathers | 1875 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Bathers | 1877 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Bathers | 1880 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Bathers | 1890 | watercolor,paper |
| Paul Cezanne | Bathers | 1891 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Bathers | 1905 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Bathers | 1906 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Bathers | c.1904 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Bathers and Fisherman with a Line | 1872 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Gardanne (Horizontal View) | c.1885 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Ginger Jar | c.1895 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Girl | c.1873 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Girl at the Piano (Overture to Tannhauser) | 1869 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Guillaumin by the Road | 1866 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Guillaumin with the Hanged Man | 1873 | |
| Paul Cezanne | Gustave Boyer in a Straw Hat | c.1871 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Harlequin | 1890 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Head of an Old Man | c.1866 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Mont Sainte-Victoire | 1867 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Mont Sainte-Victoire | 1887 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Mont Sainte-Victoire | 1890 | |
| Paul Cezanne | Mont Sainte-Victoire | 1897 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Mont Sainte-Victoire | 1898 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Mont Sainte-Victoire | 1902 | watercolor,paper |
| Paul Cezanne | Road in Provence | c.1868 | oil,canvas |
| Paul Cezanne | Road near Mont Sainte-Victoire | c.1902 | oil,canvas |
