Impressionism
is the newspaper of the soul.
Henry Matisse.
Impressionism is a direction in painting that arose and developed in France in the second half of the 19th century - the first quarter of the 20th century. It was an art school that put in the forefront "to convey impressions, but in such a way that it was perceived as something material." The task of the impressionist artist was to depict his own feelings from objects.
It is well known that the very word "impressionism" in relation to artists was first used by the journalist Louis Leroy, who was prompted by this title of the painting by Claude Monet " Impression. Sunrise”, which depicts the port of Le Havre in a bluish predawn haze.
The painting is in the Musée Marmottan-Monet in Paris. There are more than three hundred paintings of the Impressionists and Neo-Impressionists here, which means that by visiting the museum, you will already come out with some understanding of the ideas of Impressionism. And you can continue at the Musée d'Orsay, whose collections many can envy.
Impressionist artists transferred to canvases only their perception of reality and its various manifestations, and not what they knew: for example, the earth in their paintings can be purple, lilac, blue, pink or orange, but never black or dark brown.
Impressionism, so criticized by contemporaries, was appreciated fifty years later, and today the Impressionists are regarded and appreciated as masterpieces of world painting. We present to your attention the most memorable representatives of impressionism.
Renoir, Pierre Auguste (1841 - 1919).
Art critics say that an important achievement of Renoir is the use of the theory of the Impressionists and their technique, not only when he painted landscapes and still lifes or people in the open air, but also when writing nude models and portraits.
Renoir often referred to the image of a naked female body. He conveyed the play of light and sun on the skin, which seemed alive in his paintings. He painted a naked female body, with frozen drops of water, mother-of-pearl sparkling skin, pink, tanned, and at the end of life - orange, iridescent in the fire of sunlight.
Renoir rejected all theories, saying: " Theories do not help to paint a good picture, most often they try to cover up the lack of expressive means.».
Interestingly, the first works of Renoir are made in a realistic manner. For example, "Diana the Hunter" and "Mother Anthony's Tavern".
Renoir was friends with Monet, an impressionist painter, which will be discussed below. This friendship, in fact, led to the fact that Renoir will use the technique of the Impressionists.
Nevertheless, art critics and painting historians pay attention to the fact that if, following the example of the Impressionists, Renoir refuses dark tones, but from time to time he still makes small inclusions in his paintings. Among the works of this period, in the first place, one can name Pont Neuf, Grand Boulevards, Path among tall grass.
The artist, suffering from bouts of rheumatism, spent the last years of his life in the south of France in Cagnes-sur-Mer at the Colette estate. Works of this period, from 1903 to 1919. imbued with sensuality, warm tones predominate on Renoir's canvases - pink red, orange.
The influence of the masters of the past is very noticeable - Rubens Boucher and others. For example, “ Judgment of Paris», « Bather wiping her leg". The best and last work is the painting "Bathers", written in 1918. Today, his estate, in the shade of an olive and orange grove, is open to visitors. You can look into the living room and dining room, go upstairs to the artist's bedroom, which keeps the atmosphere of his last days: a wheelchair, an easel and brushes. A photograph of Renoir's son Pierre hangs on one of the walls in his wife's room, and an amazing view of Antibes and Upper Cannes opens from the window.
Thanks to French cinema, you can immerse yourself in the last period of the life of Auguste Renoir, get to know his son and see the struggle of art with harsh reality. In March, the film by French director Gilles Bourdo "Renoir: Last Love" will be released on a wide screen. The artist is just finishing The Bathers.
The Cote d'Azur, the great artist, his muse ... the French are masters of their craft, and the opportunity to actually see the great master at work, and then see the result of his work, is worth a lot. It was this picture that closed the last Cannes Film Festival.
Monet Claude (1840 - 1926).
Claude Monet called the father of impressionism. The future artist was born in Paris, but his childhood and youth were spent in the north of France, in the city of Le Havre. Monet was greatly influenced by Eugène Boudin, a French artist who is considered the forerunner of Impressionism. It was he who taught him to work in the open air (in the lane, in the open air).
Cezanne said: Monet is only an eye, but what an eye!» It's hard to argue and not fall in love with the Parisian streets, coasts and landscapes of Normandy, on Monet's canvases.
His famous painting Luncheon on the Grass was painted in 1863. in the village of Chailly-en-Bières, located on the outskirts of the forest of Fontainebleau; its central part, affected by dampness and carved by the author, is stored in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, and a repetition of the painting is in the Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin in Moscow.
Autumn 1908 and 1909. the artist spent in Venice, captivated by the charm of the city, its ever-changing reflection on the water surface of the canal. Here Monet painted the paintings "Venice: Doge's Palace" and "Venice: Grand Canal". The genius of Monet incredibly managed to portray the city, as if covered in a light predawn haze.
At the end of his career, Monet created exquisite paintings, which the artist was inspired by water lilies in the pond of his house in Giverny.
When the artist moved in 1883 in search of a quiet and peaceful place in Giverny, he hardly suspected how much life would change the life of a sleepy village in Normandy. Shortly after his arrival, the city, eighty kilometers from Paris, was flooded with young artists from different parts of Europe in search of the Master.
Today, artists and art lovers in search of inspiration come to take a walk in the gardens of Giverny, to visit the restored house. Therefore, if you fell in love with the beautiful paintings of Monet in the d'Orsay, Marmottan and Orangerie museums, then Giverny will not be in the first place on your must se list.
Sisley Alfred (1839 - 1899).
Being an Impressionist Sisley especially much attention paid to the transfer of nuances and sensations. He was very fond of painting the water surface, the sky, fog, snow. “It is necessary that the picture evokes in the viewer the same feelings that overwhelmed the artist when he looked at this landscape,” said Sisley.
Pay attention to how light, almost weightless the houses seem, the water surface with light ripples, the pastel sky and the foliage of the trees. His paintings, painted with thin, airy strokes, set in a poetic, romantic mood.
A significant collection of paintings by the artist is in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Do not leave it unattended when you are in the capital of France. You will enjoy not only Sisley's work, but also the paintings of other Impressionist artists exhibited in this museum on the banks of the Seine.
Pissarro Camille (1830 - 1903).
Art historians write that if Claude Monet and Sisley loved to imagine water and changing reflections on its surface in their paintings, then Pissarro preferred land. His art is free from fleeting impressions - everything in it is more fundamental. Pay attention to how often scenes from rural life are in his paintings. The artist used colors in such a way that when studying his canvases, it seems as if they are filled with light from within. Pissarro loved to paint orchards, fields, surprisingly conveying the changes in nature.
Pissarro was familiar with Monet, with whom they loved to write together in the vicinity of Paris. Here were written "Gare Saint-Lazare", "Pavilion of Flore and Pont-Royal", "Place Comédie-Française", "View of the Louvre, Seine and Pont Neuf".
Cezanne called him "modest and great", well deserved, what do you think?
Seurat Georges (1859 - 1891).
One of the characteristic features of Seurat was the desire to bring a fresh stream to impressionism.
His work - both drawings and paintings - are based on the theory of contrasts. The most famous painting, of course, is familiar to you, this masterpiece "Sunday walk on the island of Grande Jatte", stored in the Art Institute of Chicago. This picture has become an expression of new trends in art, an expression of the ideas of neo-impressionism. The feeling of complete peace was achieved by combining cold and warm tones, light and shadow.
"Cancan", a no less famous painting by the artist, on the contrary, conveys a feeling of joy, movement, with the help of warm shades and bright colors.
I would like to end with the words of Claude Monet " People discuss my art and pretend to understand as if it were necessary to understand, when it "s simply necessary to love ». ( People discuss my paintings, trying to understand. Why do you have to understand when you can just love?)
One of the largest trends in art in the last decades of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth is impressionism, which spread throughout the world from France. Its representatives were engaged in the development of such methods and techniques of painting that would make it possible to most vividly and naturally reflect the real world in dynamics, to convey fleeting impressions of it.
Many artists created their canvases in the style of impressionism, but the founders of the movement were Claude Monet, Edouard Manet, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Edgar Degas, Frederic Bazille, Camille Pissarro. It is impossible to name their best works, since they are all beautiful, but there are the most famous ones, which will be discussed further.
Claude Monet: “Impression. Rising Sun"
The canvas with which to start a conversation about the best paintings of the Impressionists. Claude Monet painted it in 1872 from life in the old port of French Le Havre. Two years later, the painting was shown to the public for the first time in the former workshop of the French artist and cartoonist Nadar. This exhibition has become a life-changing event for the art world. Impressed (not in the best sense) by the work of Monet, whose original name sounds like “Impression, soleil levant”, journalist Louis Leroy first coined the term “impressionism”, denoting a new direction in painting.
The painting was stolen in 1985 along with the works of O. Renoir and B. Morisot. Discovered five years later. Currently Impression. The Rising Sun" belongs to the Marmottan Monet Museum in Paris.
Edouard Monet: Olympia
The painting "Olympia", created by the French impressionist Edouard Manet in 1863, is one of the masterpieces of modern painting. It was first presented at the Paris Salon in 1865. Impressionist artists and their paintings often found themselves at the center of high-profile scandals. However, Olympia caused the largest of them in the history of art.
On the canvas we see a naked woman, with her face and body facing the audience. The second character is a dark-skinned maid holding a luxurious bouquet wrapped in paper. At the foot of the bed there is a black kitten in a characteristic pose with an arched back. Not much is known about the history of the painting, only two sketches have come down to us. The model was, most likely, Manet's favorite model, Quiz Menard. There is an opinion that the artist used the image of Marguerite Bellanger - Napoleon's mistress.
During that period of creativity, when Olympia was created, Manet was fascinated by Japanese art, and therefore deliberately refused to work out the nuances of dark and light. Because of this, his contemporaries did not see the volume of the depicted figure, they considered it flat and rough. The artist was accused of immorality, vulgarity. Never before have Impressionist paintings caused such a stir and mockery from the crowd. The administration was forced to put guards around her. Degas compared Manet's fame through the Olympia and the courage with which he accepted criticism with Garibaldi's life story.
For almost a quarter of a century after the exhibition, the canvas was kept inaccessible to prying eyes by the master artist. Then it was exhibited again in Paris in 1889. It was almost bought, but the artist's friends collected the required amount and bought the Olympia from Manet's widow, and then donated it to the state. The painting is now owned by the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
Auguste Renoir: The Great Bathers
The painting was painted by a French artist in 1884-1887. Taking into account all the currently known Impressionist paintings between 1863 and the beginning of the twentieth century, the "Great Bathers" is called the largest canvas with nude female figures. Renoir worked on it for more than three years, and during this period many sketches and sketches were created. There was no other painting in his work that he would devote so much time to.
In the foreground, the viewer sees three naked women, two of which are on the shore, and the third is in the water. The figures are painted very realistically and clearly, which is a characteristic feature of the artist's style. Renoir's models were Alina Charigot (his future wife) and Suzanne Valadon, who in the future became a famous artist herself.
Edgar Degas: Blue Dancers
Not all of the well-known Impressionist paintings listed in the article are painted in oil on canvas. The photo above allows you to understand what the painting "Blue Dancers" is. It was done in pastel on a paper sheet measuring 65x65 cm and belongs to the late period of the artist's work (1897). He painted it with already weakened vision, so the decorative organization is of paramount importance: the image is perceived as large colored spots, especially when viewed close up. The theme of dancers was close to Degas. She repeatedly repeated in his work. Many critics believe that in terms of the harmony of color and composition, Blue Dancers can be considered the artist's best work on this topic. Currently, the painting is kept in the Museum of Art. A. S. Pushkin in Moscow.
Frederic Bazille: "Pink Dress"
One of the founders of French Impressionism, Frederic Bazille was born into a bourgeois family of a wealthy winemaker. Even in the years of study at the Lyceum, he began to get involved in painting. After moving to Paris, he made acquaintance with C. Monet and O. Renoir. Unfortunately, the fate of the artist was destined for a short life path. He died at the age of 28 at the front during the Franco-Prussian War. However, his, albeit few, canvases are rightfully included in the list of “The Best Impressionist Paintings”. One of them is “Pink Dress”, written in 1864. By all indications, the canvas can be attributed to early impressionism: color contrasts, attention to color, sunlight and a stopped moment, the very thing that was called “impression”. One of the artist's cousins Teresa de Horse acted as a model. The painting is currently owned by the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
Camille Pissarro: Boulevard Montmartre. Afternoon, sunny"
Camille Pissarro became famous for his landscapes, a characteristic feature of which is the depiction of light and illuminated objects. His work had a notable influence on the genre of impressionism. The artist independently developed many of the principles inherent in him, which formed the basis of creativity in the future.
Pissarro liked to write the same place at different times of the day. He has a whole series of paintings with Parisian boulevards and streets. The most famous of them is Boulevard Montmartre (1897). It reflects all the charm that the artist sees in the seething and restless life of this corner of Paris. Looking at the boulevard from the same place, he shows it to the viewer on a sunny and cloudy day, in the morning, in the afternoon and late in the evening. In the photo below - the painting "Boulevard Montmartre at night."
This style was subsequently adopted by many artists. We will only mention which Impressionist paintings were written under the influence of Pissarro. This trend is clearly seen in the work of Monet (a series of paintings "Hacks").
Alfred Sisley: Lawns in Spring
"Lawns in the Spring" is one of the latest paintings by the landscape painter Alfred Sisley, written in 1880-1881. On it, the viewer sees a forest path along the banks of the Seine with a village on the opposite bank. In the foreground is a girl - the artist's daughter Jeanne Sisley.
The artist's landscapes convey the true atmosphere of the historical region of Ile-de-France and retain the special softness and transparency of natural phenomena characteristic of specific seasons. The artist was never a supporter of unusual effects and adhered to a simple composition and a limited palette of colors. The painting is now in the National Gallery in London.
We have listed the most famous Impressionist paintings (with titles and descriptions). These are masterpieces of world art. The unique style of painting, which originated in France, was at first perceived with derision and irony, critics emphasized the blatant carelessness of the artists in writing canvases. Now hardly anyone would dare to challenge their genius. Impressionist paintings are exhibited in the most prestigious museums in the world and are a desirable exhibit for any private collection.
The style has not sunk into oblivion and has many followers. Our compatriot Andrei Koch, French painter Laurent Parcelier, Americans Diana Leonard and Karen Tarleton are well-known modern impressionists. Their paintings are made in the best traditions of the genre, filled with bright colors, bold strokes and life. In the photo above - the work of Laurent Parcelier "In the rays of the sun."
Impressionism first appeared in France towards the end of the 19th century. Before the advent of this trend, still lifes, portraits and even landscapes were mostly painted by artists in studios. Impressionist paintings, on the other hand, were often created in the open air, and real fleeting scenes from modern life became their subjects. And although impressionism was initially criticized, it soon gathered a large following and laid the foundation for similar movements in music and literature.
Famous French Impressionist painters
It is not surprising that impressionism in painting has become one of the most famous areas of fine art: artists who worked in this style left behind canvases of amazing beauty, light as a breath of fresh air, full of light and colors. Many of these beautiful works were written by the following masters of impressionism, which every self-respecting connoisseur of world painting knows.
Edouard Manet
Despite the fact that the entire work of Edouard Manet cannot be placed only within the framework of impressionism, the painter largely influenced the emergence of this trend, and other French artists working in this style considered him the founder of impressionism and their ideological inspirer. Other well-known French impressionists were good friends of the master: Edgar Degas, Pierre Auguste Renoir, as well as an impressionist artist with a similar surname, which baffles beginners in the world of painting, Claude Monet.
After meeting these artists, impressionistic changes took place in Manet's work: he began to prefer working outdoors, light, bright colors, an abundance of light and fractional composition began to predominate in the paintings. Although he still does not refuse dark colors, and he prefers painting in the domestic genre to landscapes - this can be seen in the painter’s works “Bar at the Folies Bergère”, “Music at the Tuileries”, “Breakfast on the Grass”, “Papa's Lathuille", "Argenteuil" and others.
Claude Monet
The name of this French artist, perhaps, at least once in his life everyone heard. Claude Monet was one of the founders of Impressionism, and it was his painting Impression: Rising Sun that gave the movement its name.
In the 60s of the 19th century, the impressionist artist was one of the first to take a great interest in painting in the open air, and much later he created a new experimental approach to work. It consisted in observing and depicting the same object at different times of the day: this is how a whole series of canvases was created overlooking the facade of the Rouen Cathedral, opposite which the artist even settled in order not to lose sight of the building.
As you study Impressionism in painting, don't miss Monet's Field of Poppies at Argenteuil, Walk to the Cliff at Pourville, Women in the Garden, Lady with Umbrella, Boulevard des Capucines, and the Water lilies."
Pierre Auguste Renoir
This impressionist artist had a unique vision of beauty, which made Renoir one of the most famous representatives of this movement. First of all, he is famous for his paintings of the noisy Parisian life and leisure of the late 19th century. Renoir perfectly knew how to work with color and chiaroscuro, in particular, his exceptional ability to paint nudes, with a unique transmission of tones and textures, is noted.
Already from the 80s, the Impressionist artist began to lean more towards the classical style of painting and became interested in Renaissance painting, which forced him to include sharper lines and a clear composition in his mature works. It was during this period that Pierre-Auguste Renoir created some of the most imperishable works of his era.
Pay special attention to such paintings by Renoir as "Breakfast of the Rowers", "Ball at the Moulin de la Galette", "Dance in the Village", "Umbrellas", "Dance at Bougival", "Girls at the Piano".
Edgar Degas
In the history of art, Edgar Degas remained as an impressionist artist, although he himself denied this label, preferring to call himself rather an independent artist. Indeed, he had a certain interest in realism, which distinguished the artist from other impressionists, but at the same time he used many impressionist techniques in his work, in particular, he “played” with light in the same way and was fond of depicting scenes from urban life.
Degas was always attracted by the human figure, he often depicted singers, dancers, laundresses, trying to depict the human body in various positions, for example, on the canvases “Dance Class”, “Rehearsal”, “Concert at the Ambassador Cafe”, “Opera Orchestra”, “ Dancers in blue.
Camille Pissarro
Pissarro was the only artist who participated in all eight Impressionist exhibitions from 1874 to 1886. While Impressionist paintings are known for their urban and countryside scenes, Pissarro's paintings show the viewer the daily life of French peasants, depicting rural nature in various conditions and under different lighting conditions.
Getting acquainted with the paintings that this impressionist artist painted, first of all it is worth seeing the works “Boulevard Montmartre at night”, “Harvest in Eragny”, “Reapers rest”, “Garden in Pontoise” and “Entrance to the village of Voisin”.
Impressionism is a direction in painting that originated in France in the 19th-20th centuries, which is an artistic attempt to capture any moment of life in all its variability and mobility. Impressionist paintings are like a qualitatively washed-out photograph, reviving in fantasy the continuation of the story seen. In this article, we take a look at 10 of the world's most famous impressionists. Fortunately, there are more than ten, twenty or even a hundred talented artists, so let's focus on those names that you need to know for sure.
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 of English origin is considered the most famous landscape painter of the second half of the 19th century. There are more than 900 paintings in his collection, of which the most famous are “Country Alley”, “Frost in Louveciennes”, “Bridge in Argenteuil”, “Early Snow in Louveciennes”, “Lawns in Spring”, and many others.
2. Van Gogh
Known to the whole world for the sad story about his ear (by the way, he did not cut off the whole ear, but only the lobe), Wang Gon became popular only after his death. And in his life he was able to sell a single painting, 4 months before his death. It is said that he was both an entrepreneur and a priest, but often ended up in psychiatric hospitals due to depression, so all the rebelliousness of his existence resulted in legendary works.
3. Camille Pissarro
Pissarro was born on the island of St. Thomas, in a family of bourgeois Jews, and was one of the few impressionists whose parents encouraged his hobby and soon sent him to Paris to study. Most of all, the artist liked nature, and he depicted it in all colors, and more precisely, Pissarro had a special talent for choosing the softness of colors, compatibility, after which air seemed to appear in the pictures.
4. Claude Monet
From childhood, the boy decided that he would become an artist, despite the prohibitions of the family. Having moved to Paris on his own, Claude Monet plunged into the gray everyday life of a hard life: two years in the 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 rather inspired the artist to create such vivid paintings as “Impression, Sunrise”, “Parliament Building in London”, “Bridge to Europe”, “Autumn in Argenteuil”, “On the Shore Trouville, and many others.
5. Konstantin Korovin
It's nice to know that among the French, the parents of impressionism, one can proudly place our compatriot - Konstantin Korovin. Passionate love for nature helped him intuitively give unimaginable liveliness to a static picture, thanks to the combination of suitable colors, width of strokes, 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 certainly begin to paint. Over time, the artist's style has changed, but the most famous impressionistic paintings are "Garden in the Snow", "At the Cliff", "On the Beach in Dieppe", "Nude", "Palms 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 gain 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, made a loud emphasis on regular and irregular geometric shapes, the severity of the themes of his paintings were 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 he moved to Paris, where he met Monet, Basil and Sisley. This acquaintance helped him in the future to take the road of impressionism and become famous on it. Renoir is known as the author of a sentimental portrait, among his most outstanding works are "On the Terrace", "Walk", "Portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary", "The Lodge", "Alfred Sisley and his Wife", "On the Swing", "The Frog" and a lot others.
9. Edgar Degas
If you haven't heard anything about the "Blue Dancers", "Ballet Rehearsals", "Ballet School" and "Absinthe" - hurry up to learn more about the work of Edgar Degas. The selection of original colors, unique themes for paintings, the feeling of movement of the picture - all this and much more made Degas one of the most famous artists in the world.
10. Edouard Manet
Do not confuse Manet with Monet - these are two different people who worked at the same time and in the same artistic direction. Manet was always attracted by everyday scenes, unusual appearances and types, as if by chance "caught" moments, subsequently captured for centuries. Among the famous paintings of Manet: "Olympia", "Breakfast on the Grass", "Bar at the Folies Bergère", "Flutist", "Nana" and others.
If you have even the slightest opportunity to see the paintings of these masters live, you will fall in love with impressionism forever!
Alexandra Skripkina,
Impressionism is a trend in painting that originated in France in the 19th-20th centuries, which is an artistic attempt to capture any moment of life in all its variability and mobility. Impressionist paintings are like a qualitatively washed-out photograph, reviving in fantasy the continuation of the story seen. In this article, we take a look at 10 of the world's most famous impressionists. Fortunately, there are more than ten, twenty or even a hundred talented artists, so let's focus on those names that you need to know for sure.
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 of English origin is considered the most famous landscape painter of the second half of the 19th century. There are more than 900 paintings in his collection, of which the most famous are “Country Alley”, “Frost in Louveciennes”, “Bridge in Argenteuil”, “Early Snow in Louveciennes”, “Lawns in Spring”, and many others.
2. Van Gogh
Known to the whole world for the sad story about his ear (by the way, he did not cut off the whole ear, but only the lobe), Wang Gon became popular only after his death. And in his life he was able to sell a single painting, 4 months before his death. It is said that he was both an entrepreneur and a priest, but often ended up in psychiatric hospitals due to depression, so all the rebelliousness of his existence resulted in legendary works.
3. Camille Pissarro
Pissarro was born on the island of St. Thomas, in a family of bourgeois Jews, and was one of the few impressionists whose parents encouraged his hobby and soon sent him to Paris to study. Most of all, the artist liked nature, and he depicted it in all colors, and more precisely, Pissarro had a special talent for choosing the softness of colors, compatibility, after which air seemed to appear in the pictures.
4. Claude Monet
From childhood, the boy decided that he would become an artist, despite the prohibitions of the family. Having moved to Paris on his own, Claude Monet plunged into the gray everyday life of a hard life: two years in the 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 rather inspired the artist to create such vivid paintings as “Impression, Sunrise”, “Parliament Building in London”, “Bridge to Europe”, “Autumn in Argenteuil”, “On the Shore Trouville, and many others.
5. Konstantin Korovin
It is nice to know that among the French, the parents of impressionism, one can proudly place our compatriot Konstantin Korovin. Passionate love for nature helped him intuitively give unimaginable liveliness to a static picture, thanks to the combination of suitable colors, width of strokes, 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 certainly begin to paint. Over time, the artist's style has changed, but the most famous impressionistic paintings are Garden in the Snow, By the Cliff, On the Beach in Dieppe, Nude, Palms 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 gain 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, made a loud emphasis on regular and irregular geometric shapes, the severity of the subject 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 he moved to Paris, where he met Monet, Basil and Sisley. This acquaintance helped him in the future to take the road of impressionism and become famous on it. Renoir is known as the author of a sentimental portrait, among his most outstanding works are “On the Terrace”, “Walk”, “Portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary”, “The Lodge”, “Alfred Sisley and his Wife”, “On the Swing”, “The Frog” and a lot others.
9. Edgar Degas
If you haven't heard anything about the "Blue Dancers", "Ballet Rehearsals", "Ballet School" and "Absinthe" - hurry up to learn more about the work of Edgar Degas. The selection of original colors, unique themes for paintings, the feeling of movement of the picture - all this and much more made Degas one of the most famous artists in the world.
10. Edouard Manet
Do not confuse Manet with Monet - these are two different people who worked at the same time and in the same artistic direction. Manet was always attracted by everyday scenes, unusual appearances and types, as if by chance "caught" moments, subsequently captured for centuries. Among the famous paintings of Manet: "Olympia", "Breakfast on the Grass", "Bar at the Folies Bergère", "Flutist", "Nana" and others.
If you have even the slightest opportunity to see the paintings of these masters live, you will fall in love with impressionism forever!
