The+Impressionist+Movement

=The Impressionist Movement=

General Information
The Impressionist Movement was an art movement in the 19th century, which was begun by a small group of Parisian artists and their independent exhibitions. The Impressionist style of painting usually involves small, thin and visible brush strokes, The movement initially faced a lot of opposition and harsh criticism in the French art community, even being satirized in several comedic newspapers, for its almost complete upheaval of the traditional ideas of placing line and contour above everything else. Impressionist painters often painted outdoors in order to better capture the effect of the sun, while the tradition of the time was to always paint still life paintings indoors. Eventually, the public began to appreciate the vibrancy of the work, and Impressionism became the precursor to various movements such as Neo-Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and Cubism.

History
The movement itself began in a time when the //Academié des Beaux-Arts// dominated the art scene in France. The //Academié// was all about preserving traditional French style and characteristics in French art. Historical paintings and portraits were valued and revered, while landscape and still life were frowned upon. In the late 1860s, four young painters (Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Frédéric Bazille) met in Paris and employed the use of vivid colors to lighten the face of art. They tried to get their artwork into the show of the //Academié//, the //Salon de Paris//, but to no avail. The impressionist work was consistently turned down in favor of more traditional work. As a result, the four painters above (with Cézanne, Degas, Pissarro, Morisot, and others) set up their own foundation, where it was expected to forego the //Salon// in favor of the independent art shows set up by the //Société Anonyme Coopérative des Artistes Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs. //Expecting artists to completely cut ties with the //Academié// proved a poor decision when many Impressionist artists decided to send their artwork in to the Salon regardless, in the hopes of becoming successful. This led to many of the artists eventually abandoning the //Coopérative// in favor of the //Academié//, and the //Coopérative// was disbanded as a result. However, by this time (the late 1870s), the Impressionist style had made its way into the favor of the //Academié//.

Impact on France
The Impressionist Movement changed the art scene in France very dramatically, as it integrated the use of vibrant colors into the mainstream of French art. It also popularized landscape and still-life paintings, an influence seen even today, as those are some of the most famous kinds of paintings and are very frequently associated with the French style. Impressionism also influenced several other famous styles of art, which would then go on to make their own impacts on the French art scene, including Post-Impressionism practiced by such artists as Vincent van Gogh and Georges Seurat. In addition, the artistic Impressionist movement created a similar movement in literature and music. The musical Impressionist movement was defined by suggestion and atmosphere, with the main composers involved being Debussy, Ravel, Respighi, and Vaughn Williams. On the other hand, literary Impressionism was characterized by having very few details convey the senses of a scene, and famous proponents include Baudelaire and Rimbaud. Ultimately, The Impressionist Movement in France added spontaneity to not only French painting, but all forms of art all around the world.