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Le déjeuner sur l'herbe by Edouard Manet
When Le déjeuner sur l'herbe (Luncheon on the Grass) was first presented it caused an uproar due to both its aesthetic rendering and its "racy" content. The painting, which depicts the picnic of two fully clothed men and two nude women, defies the tradition of the idealized female subject. Gazing at the viewer, she looks confrontational rather than passive. http://www.manet.org/luncheon-on-the-grass.jsp -
Waltz
The Waltz revolutionized couple dances because it was a “closed dance” in which people danced arm in arm. Introduced in Germany at the end of the 18th century, waltz means tor roll or to turn in German. The Waltz then was used in France and England around 1812, and eventually to America. Not socially accepted when it first arrived in England, because of the couple’s close position, It was eventually the most popular and enduring 19th century couple dance. -
Impression by Claude Monet
This painting became the source of the movement’s name. Monet depicts a mist, which provides a hazy background to the piece set in the French harbor. The orange and yellow hues contrast brilliantly with the dark vessels, where little, if any detail is immediately visible to the audience. https://www.claude-monet.com/impression-sunrise.jsp -
Rouen, France Architecture
For the painter Claude Monet, the city of Rouen was a great source of inspiration. In a remarkable series of 18 paintings, Monet depicted the cathedral of this Normandy city in different lights. The result is magnificent, in colours shifting from shades of blue to orange, sometimes verging on grey, Monet offers us a fascinating series of views of Rouen cathedral. -
Fog, Voisins by Alfred Sisley
Unlike other artists, Sisley, like Monet, focused almost expressly on representations of the atmosphere while diminishing the importance of the human figure, if they appeared at all. Fog, Voisins demonstrates this general preoccupation with the visual perception of the natural world through the application of rough, clearly visible brushstrokes and the blurry color and form. https://eclecticlight.co/2015/03/31/favourite-paintings-16-alfred-sisley-fog-voisins-1874/ -
In a Park by Berthe Morisot
Berthe Morisot is known for both her compelling portraits and her poignant landscapes. In a Park combines these elements of figuration with representations of nature in this serene family portrait set in a bucolic garden. Like Mary Cassatt, Morisot is recognized for her portrayals of the private sphere of female society. As in this quiet image of family life, she centered on the maternal bond between mother and child.
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/in-a-park-berthe-morisot.html -
The Dance Class by Edgar Degas
Degas devoted this work to the theme of the dance. Some twenty-four women, ballerinas and their mothers, wait while a dancer executes an "attitude" for her examination. The imaginary scene is set in a rehearsal room in the old Paris Opéra, which had recently burned to the ground. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/438817 -
Les régates à Moseley by Alfred Sisley
Sisley was dedicated to painting landscape en plein air and his work is known for capturing the transient effects of sunlight. https://www.1st-art-gallery.com/Alfred-Sisley/Les-Régates-À-Moseley.html -
Les raboteurs de parquet by Gustave Caillebotte
The Floor Scrapers illustrates Caillebotte’s continued interest in perspective and everyday life. Note how beautifully Caillebotte captures the light through the window and the resulting shadows. The painting is also known for being as realistic as a photograph. https://aforsay.org/events/gustave-caillebotte-the-painters-eyes/ -
Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (French Title: Bal du moulin de la Galette) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
This painting depicts a typical Sunday afternoon at Moulin de la Galette. Renoir frequently attended Sunday afternoon dances at this café and enjoyed watching the happy couples. So for him, it provided the perfect setting for a painting. His use of light in this composition as well as his fluidity of brushstrokes is typically Impressionistic. The canvas of the painting was unique due to its size. http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/paintings-analysis/dance-at-le-moulin-de-la-galette.htm -
L’Absinthe by Edgar Degas
This painting by Degas is a representation of the increasing social isolation in Paris during its rapid growth. The painting depicts a woman staring dully before her with a glass of Absinthe in front of her. A man who looks like an alcoholic sits beside her. The people in the painting were considered by English critics to be shockingly degraded and clumsy and the woman was even derided as a whore. Some viewed the painting as a warning lesson against absinthe and the French in general. -
Paris Street; Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte
This piece depicts the Place de Dublin. Even though there are no raindrops to be seen, Caillebotte masterfully creates the impression of rain through lighting, lack of strong shadows and impression of water on the street. Like many of Gustave’s paintings, this is also noted for its preciseness which gives it the appearance of a photograph. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-painting-Paris-Street-Rainy-Day-1877-by-Gustave-Caillebotte-source-Google-Art_fig2_272793885 -
The Walking Man by Rodin
The Walking Man is composed of two fragments of sculpture that Rodin combined into a single work without masking the fusion of these disparate forms. http://www.musee-rodin.fr/en/collections/sculptures/walking-man -
In the Loge by Mary Stevenson Cassatt
Many male artists, including Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Degas, had painted beautiful women in theater boxes, where they appeared as if they were on display in a gilded frame. Cassatt gave her female figure a noticeably more dynamic role, for she peers avidly through her opera glasses at the row of seats across from her. In the background at upper left, a man trains his gaze upon her. The viewer, who sees them both, completes the circle. https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/in-the-loge-31365 -
The cup of tea by Mary Cassatt
Cassatt’s embrace of French Impressionism is signaled by her scintillating brushwork, high-keyed palette, and emphasis on contrasting complementary colors. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/22.16.17/ -
Luncheon of the Boating Party (French Title: Le dejeuner des canotiers) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Renoir uses elements of design like balance and harmony; and rich colours characteristic of Impressionist style to create a delightful image. Famous for its richness of form and masterful use of light, this painting is a romanticized portrait of Renoir’s friends enjoying an afternoon on a balcony along the Seine River. http://totallyhistory.com/le-dejeuner-des-canotiers/ -
Danaïd by Auguste Rodin
Rodin's work has an irregular surface on which sunlight causes glittering. These sparkles of sunlight give the sculpture a new kind of liveliness. This optic effect was not only what Rodin was after. With these method of sculpture he tried to reflect the growing-process of a sculpture. http://www.musee-rodin.fr/en/collections/sculptures/danaid -
Little Dancer of Fourteen Years by Edgar Degas, c.
The controversial sculpture that Degas showed in the Impressionist Exhibition of 1881 is noted for its experimentalism and breaks with tradition. https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.110292.html -
Girl with a Hoop by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Like Monet, Renoir loved to employ natural light in his paintings. This painting, through its fluid handling of paint and portrayal of the young girl at play, evokes the distinctly carefree mood of much of his work. While the other Impressionists focused on more existential themes of alienation in modern society, Renoir centered on the representation of leisure activities and female beauty. https://www.wga.hu/html_m/r/renoir/3/3renoi23.html -
The Afternoon of a Faun by Debussy
Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_7loz-HWUM Impressionist music tries to capture images of water and light, of landscape, and of nature, by painting with tone colours. The titles are usually very descriptive, such as Debussy's The Afternoon of a Faun and his Sunken Cathedral.
