Impressionist Paintings
Emerging in 19th-century France, Impressionist art embraced loose brushwork and plein-air painting to respond to the movement of daily life. Although the pioneers of the Impressionist movement — Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Paul Cézanne, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir — are now household names, their work was a radical break with an art scene led and shaped by academic traditions for around two centuries. These academies had oversight of a curriculum that emphasized formal drawing, painting and sculpting techniques and historical themes.
The French Impressionists were influenced by a group of artists known as the Barbizon School, who painted what they witnessed in nature. The rejection of pieces by these artists and the later Impressionists from the salons culminated in a watershed 1874 exhibition in Paris that was staged outside of the juried systems. After a work of Monet’s was derided by a critic as an unfinished “impression,” the term was taken as a celebration of their shared interest in capturing fleeting moments as subject matter, whether the shifting weather on rural landscapes or the frenzy of an urban crowd. Rather than the exacting realism of the academic tradition, Impressionist paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings represented how an artist saw a world in motion.
Many Impressionist painters were inspired by the perspectives in imported Japanese prints alongside these shifts in European painting — Édouard Manet drew on ukiyo-e woodblock prints and depicted Japanese design in his Portrait of Émile Zola, for example. American artists such as Mary Cassatt and William Merritt Chase, who studied abroad, were impacted by the work of the French artists, and by the late 19th century American Impressionism had its own distinct aesthetics with painters responding to the rapid modernization of cities through quickly created works that were vivid with color and light.
Find a collection of authentic Impressionist art on 1stDibs.
Late 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Acrylic, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Charcoal, Watercolor, Archival Paper, Pastel, Gouache
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Panel, Archival Paper
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
1880s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
1950s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Paper
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Paper, Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Linen, Oil, Panel
Late 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Cardboard
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Late 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
1870s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Late 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
Lily pads and lotus flowers float weightlessly on a pond. The vivid blues evoke a refreshing coolness, accentuating the vibrant colors of the aquatic plants. Si...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Late 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Early 1900s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Panel, Archival Paper
Artist Comments
The afternoon sun brings out the magical colors of fall. Yellows and oranges blend, fading gracefully among the trees. The river reflects its surroundings, heig...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Board
1990s Impressionist Paintings
Wood, Mixed Media
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Panel, Archival Paper
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil, Cardboard
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil, Cardboard
19th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
In the most remote area in the lower 48 United States lies a wilderness through which the Salmon River runs. Few trees dot the rugged rocks, adding touches of g...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Gold Leaf
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic