claude monet impression sunrise characteristics

In the time when academic standards of fine art required religion and history as essential themes to the art world, Impressionist artists made everyday life of modern Paris the main subject matter of their paintings. Together they held eight exhibitions in Paris until 1886, but it was the third one where they accepted and acknowledged the satirical term coined by Leroy. It was here where they gained infamous name “Impressionists“ according to Claude Monet’s painting Impression, Sunrise, 1872. Composed of Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Pissarro, Edgar Degas, Renoir, Guillaumin, Berthe Morisot and Cézanne, this group held their first exhibition in 1874 arranged in the Photographer Félix Nadar’s gallery.

The group of the future Impressionist artists shared a general sense of animosity toward dominant academic standards of fine art and were gathered under the name Cooperative and Anonymous Association of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers. Therefore, there is a crucial difference between Realism and Impressionism, since Impressionist artists preoccupied themselves with a personal and subjective transcription of reality onto the surface of canvas. As an outgrowth of Realism, Impressionism was primarily interested in transcribing visual reality as it is reflected upon the retina of the painting artists within a short period. Even the term “Impressionists“, coined by an art critic and journalist Louis Leroy, was supposed to be a witty description for the paintings made by the group of artists that actively created from 1867 to 1886. Impressionism is an art movement developed in France and it is one of the most famous, but paradoxically the least understood expression in art history.

Claude monet impression sunrise characteristics