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Major Artists Are Born 1830 - 1841
1830: Camille Pissarro is born on the Island of St Thomas in the Danish West Indies. 1832: Edouard Manet is born in Paris, France. 1834: Edgar Degas is born in Paris, France 1839: Paul Cezanne is born in Aix-en-Provence. 1840: Claude Monet is born in Paris, France.
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1841: Pierre-Auguste Renoir is born in Limoges, France. 1841: Frederic Bazille is born in Montpellier, France. -
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French Impressionism 1830 - 1926
During the late 1800s, Paris, an exciting city place for the art world. Many new movements in literature, music, and the visual arts were made by the bohemians. Impressionism was a major evolvement emerging in this time period. A major art development called “impressionism” started to be noticed. The impressionist style is more of an impression of a scene or object Some of the most famous and founding artists of the are Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. -
Impressionism Beginnings 1830-1860
Around the 1830s and throughout the early 1840s the impressionism movement started. By 1860, the Impressionist battled for recognition in the Salon of the Academy des Beaux Arts, (aka The Exhibition of the Fine Arts Academy), but were not well received. -
Invention of Paint Tubes
Art is revolutionized by American John Goffe Rand's patents for his invention for a collapsible metal paint tube. Before this, artists had to stay mostly in the studio and used a powdered pigment into paste to make paint and and transport in jars or bladders made from animal ski. With Rand's invention, it made made it easier to be able to paint outside very easily, thereby creating more Plein Air painting and practices. This is an important because painting of the "light" is key in Plein Air. -
Berthe Morisot Female Impressionist (1841 - 1895)
Berthe Morisot, the leading female impressionist is born in 1841. She died in 1895. Her work was highly regarded. Other female impressionist artists include Mary Cassatt and Marie Bracquemond. -
Friendships Are Formed 1859 - 1860
Claude Monet returns to Paris to study Suisse's studio. There he meets Pissarro. At Gleyre's Studios Monet where he befriends Renoir, Bazille and Sisley. The Ecole des Beaux Arts (the Fine Arts School) is a sought after school at this period of time. Several Impressionist Artist, like Edouard Manet are snubbed by the Salon's juried art shows. Manet's Dejeuner sur l’Herbe (Lunch on the Grass) is the work that kick-started the impressionist movement as it was rejected by the jury. -
Manet's The Spanish Singer 1861
Manet submits two works to the Salon and The Spanish Singer, wins an honorable mention award. However, Manet does not receive any more recognition from the Salon for twenty years. -
Monet's Women in the Garden 1867
Claude Monet's painting, Women in the Garden is rejected by the Salon's jury. Monet starts talking about the idea of the impressionists exhibiting together as a group separate from the Salon. At this time, due to financial constraints the plan is not executed. -
The Prussian War of 1870 - 1871
The Prussian War of 1870 - 1871 required some of the Impressionist Artists to serve in the army. They were dispersed to different locations such as Southern France and London. Upon their return to Paris, they formed their own company. -
The Siege of Paris 1870
The Siege of Paris begins and impressionist artists such as Manet and Berthe Morisot stay in Paris to protect the city. Other impressionist artists travel to different location due to family or serving for military. -
Impressionist First Exhibit 1874
Impression Sunrise is the work that coined the word "Impressionism." By 1873, the group that would become known as the Impressionists were disillusioned with the Salon's rejections and planned to host their own exhibition. In 1874, the group had their first exhibition which included pieces by Monet, Cezanne, Renior, Degas and Pissarro. The show was hosted at the Rue de Capucines.
Attendance was about 3500 at 1 franc. Reviews were not good. -
The Dance Class Series by Degas 1874-1875
Edgar Degas’ Dance Class series are his classic impressionist paintings. He painted them in rehearsal halls of the Paris Opera. Although he did not like being called an impressionist, he was paramount in organizing them. He exhibited his work in eight of
of the impressionist exhibitions held in and after 1874. His involvement was controversial, as he was considered demanding and cutting. Degas was trained as a classic artist, and started to paint impressionistically around 1870. -
Gustave Caillebotte and the Second Impressionist Show 1876
Gustave Caillebotte played several roles in the Impressionist movement, he was a collector and financier as well as a painter.
He helped finance the 2nd impressionist exhibition as he was independently wealthy. The core impressionists artists, with the exception Manet exhibited. However, this show was also bombed as there were few sales with horrible reviews. -
Claude Monet's Gare Saint-Lazare 1877
In 1877, Claude Monet had inspiration to paint fog. Not wanting to wait for the weather, he then painted the steam and smoke of a railway stations called Gare Saint-Lazare and Gare du Nord which was also difficult, as he needed access to the trains on the platform. Consequently, the station master let Monet on the platforms and departures were delayed. -
Gustave Caillebotte's Paris Street; Rainy Day 1877
This monumental view of a bustling Parisian street is Caillebotte’s masterpiece. The artist captures a scene fashionable city dwellers strolling in Paris on a rainy day. -
Berthe Morisot's Woman at Her Toilette 1880
Berthe Morisot captured the essence of modern life with soft colors and brushstrokes. Some say that the composition resembles a visual tone poem, orchestrated with such perfumed and rarified motifs as brushed blonde hair, satins, powder puffs, and flower petals. Morisot showed her work in seven of the eight Impressionist group shows. This piece was included in the 5th exhibition that took place in 1880. She received great acclaim for her artwork. -
Renoir's Luncheon at the Boating Lake 1880 - 1881
Renoir's "Luncheon at the Boating Lake" is one of his classic works. As his style shows as contemporary while people are having fun. Renoir uses fluid brushstrokes. The painting is finished in his rich and glossy style. The painting is considered impressionist as it does not have a moral message, but merely people enjoying themselves. This painting was part of the seventh impressionist shows. Although it did not sell and was part of his "dry period" where he struggled as an artist. -
Manet's Bar at the Folies-Bergere 1882
Manet was dying of tertiary syphilis by 1882 when he painted this painting. However, he still wanted to paint and show his work at the the official Salon des Beaux Arts. The previous year at the Salon he won second class medal for a painting of the aristocrat Henri Rochefort. Manet was now able to show his work without a hostile jury. A classic Manet with superior use of reflections. Because Manet was too ill, the barmaid, Suzon came to his studio to pose on a make shift bar. -
Georges Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte 1884
This scene of the Grande Jatte, is considered to be Georges Seurat’s greatest work. Seurat worked very much on this piece reworking it the original. He juxtaposed tiny dabs of paint colors through optical blending, form a single and, he believed, more brilliantly luminous hue. -
Vincent van Gogh Inspired By The Impressionists
Vincent van Gogh is considered post impressionist and actually did not display his work at the impressionist exhibitions of the 1870s and 1880s. However, his style has definite impressionist flare, painted plein air with coarse brushstrokes and bright colors. Interestingly, van Gogh acquired and enhanced his techniques part by painting with some of the impressionists in the mid-1880s. Van Gogh's most famous paintings include Sunflowers (1887), Irises (1889) and Starry Night (1889). -
Bracquemond's The Artist's Son and Sister in the Garden at Sèvres 1890
Marie Bracquemond lived from 1840 until 1916. She was one of the accomplished French Impressionist artists. Interestingly, she is omitted from books on artists is sometimes attributed to the efforts of her husband, Félix Bracquemond. Nonetheless, she is considered to be very skilled. -
Cezanne's The Card Players 1890
Paul Cézanne is best known for his series of five Card Players. In 2011, one of the paintings made history and set a world record price by selling for $259 million in 2011. Paul Cézanne was complex and ill-tempered. His early work was disturbing and even included paintings of murders. However, with Pissarro’s support he was brought into the impressionist circle and showed his work in two of the eight exhibitions. He garnered excellent reviews. -
Claude Monet Waterlilies 1895 - 1926
Claude Monet is the most famous of the impressionist artist. He painted approximately 250 water lilies oil paintings. The paintings depict his garden at his beloved home in Giverny which was the main focus of his later years. -
Pissarro's Boulevard Montmartre 1897
Pissarro, not the most famous of the impressionist artists, but he was a vital part of keeping the group together.For example, he was instrumental in organizing the first impressionist show in 1874. He was also the only impressionist artist to exhibit his work at each of the eight impressionist shows. As Pissarro was relaxed, kind and friendly he was useful in mediating between personalities like Degas and Cezanne. -
Mary Cassatt 1904
Mary Cassatt was awarded the Légion d’honneur award for her art services in 1904. One of the few women who was successful during the Impressionist movement. Cassatt was acclaimed for bringing a fresh perspective to the ordinary life scenes that the impressionists sought to illustrate. -
Claude Monet Dies 1926
In 1926 Claude Monet dies. A collection of his very large water lily canvasses are donated to France and currently displayed in the Musee de l'Orangerie in Paris. Incredibly, many of these later paintings were painted while Monet suffered from cataracts.