Culture

The colorful and light-intensive painting style of the Impressionists fascinates us immensely. Monet and Renoir in particular immortalized the fleetingness of the moment in their paintings.

The Impressionist style of painting was predominantly at home in France between 1850 and 1920. Edouard Manet is considered a pioneer. Impressionism was by no means appreciated at first. Claude Monet's painting “Impression, soleil levant”, for example, provoked resistance in the Parisian art scene. The basic idea of Impressionism is to capture momentary perception and the fleeting nature of the moment. Nature and light effects play an important role, as do their changes with the passing of the day and the seasons. Impressionists captured moments with the stylistic devices of color and light. The Impressionists turned their backs on academic studio painting and took their easels outdoors. Open-air painting (“en plein air”) led to new color moods with a brightening of the color palette and the loosening of outline drawings.

Impressionist painters made effective use of spectral colors and their influence on visual perception. Colors and shadows are created from the refraction of sunlight. The Impressionist style of painting consists of applying small dots of color to the canvas and the idea that the color mosaic blends back together as a whole in the viewer's mind. The Impressionists were also interested in ordinary everyday scenes and the various pleasures of French social life.

The most important Impressionist painters and their works are listed below.

Camille Pissarro

Born in St. Thomas (Antilles) in 1830, died in Paris in 1903. Important painter of French Impressionism. Started out as a landscape painter before painting impressionist pictures with high levels of light and contrast. Lived in Paris and briefly in London. Under the influence of Seurat, he turned to pointillism in the meantime. In Pissarro's late phase, he mainly painted cityscapes and street scenes.

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Eduoard Manet

Born in Paris in 1832, died in Paris in 1883. One of the most important representatives of French Impressionism. Manet worked mainly in Paris, only briefly traveling to Spain. The central theme of his paintings are figures, which he painted with little contrast between light and dark and without shadows. He rarely painted nature. Manet caused a scandal in the Parisian art world with his paintings “Breakfast in the Open Air” and “Olympia”.

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Edgar Degas

Born in Paris in 1834, died in Paris in 1917. Important French Impressionist who distinguished himself from other Impressionist painters through his clear pictorial structures and precisely drawn lines. Frequent themes are the ballet, Parisian nightlife and the racecourse. After going blind, Degas created sculptures together with his wife.

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Paul Cezanne

Born in Aix-au-Provence in 1839, died in Aix-au-Provence in 1906. French impressionist with expressionist and later cubist influences in his works. Worked mainly in the south of France, interrupted by stays in Paris. Considered the “father of modernism”.

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Arthur Sisley

Born in Paris in 1839, died in Moret-sur-Loing (France) in 1899. French Impressionist painter who did not receive the recognition he deserved during his lifetime. Painted peaceful landscapes and places with magnificent, powerful colors. Was friends with Renoir and Monet. Remained true to his Impressionist painting style until his death.

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Claude Monet

Born in Paris in 1840, died in Giverny (France) in 1926. Monet is considered the head of the Impressionists. Lived in Le Havre, Giverny and London. The term Impressionism was derived from his painting “Impression soleil levant”. Among other things, Monet became famous for several railroad and water lily paintings, the latter of which were created in his famous garden in Giverny near Paris, where he lived for the last 30 years.

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Auguste Renoir

Born in Limoges (France) in 1841, died in Cagnes-sur-Mer (France) in 1919. One of the most important French Impressionist painters. Maintained friendships with Monet, Manet, Sisley and Bazille. Renoir preferred to depict social occasions. Lived in Paris and Cagnes-sur-Mer, interrupted by trips to Algeria and Italy in 1881/82. In his late phase, characterized by rheumatoid arthritis, he turned to classicist painting.

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Paul Gauguin

Born in Paris in 1848, died in Atuona (South Seas) in 1903. Lived as a child in Lima (Peru), then in Paris and Arles (South of France) and for many years on Tahiti and other South Sea islands. Influenced by Impressionism in his early years, later considered a pioneer of Expressionism and Synthetism. Gauguin's paintings with motifs from the South Seas express his longing for the simple, original life.

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Vincent van Gogh

Born in Groot-Zundert (Holland) in 1853, died in Auvers-sur-Oise (France) in 1890. Van Gogh is considered a pioneer of Impressionism (or Post-Impressionism) as well as Expressionism and Fauvism. He spent most of his short life in the south of France. His paintings are characterized by bright colors, comma-shaped brushstrokes and compositions with complementary colors.

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Max Liebermann

Born in Berlin in 1847, died in Berlin in 1935. One of the most important German Impressionists, he is associated with Slevogt and Corinth in the “Berlin Impressionism” school of art. Created his works in Berlin, Paris and Munich, interrupted by several stays in Holland. Headed the Berlin Secession and the Prussian Academy of Arts. Max Liebermann is Rainer's favorite Impressionist.

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Lovis Corinth

Born in 1858 in Taplau (East Prussia), died in 1925 in Zandvoort (Holland). One of the most important German impressionists, later with expressionist influences. Lived in Koenigsberg, Antwerp, Paris, for many years in Berlin and until shortly before his death at Walchensee, where many of his late landscape paintings were created. Sonja particularly likes these.

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Max Slevogt

Born in Landshut in 1868, died in Neukastel (Palatinate) in 1932. German Impressionist painter and graphic artist. Together with Liebermann and Corinth, Slevogt is one of the landscape painters of the great outdoors. Lived in Landshut, Wuerzburg, Munich, Berlin and Landau (Palatinate). Was a member of the Berlin Secession. In addition to his portraits and landscapes, the paintings he created on a trip to Egypt are well known.

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