Impressionism

=Impressionism= Impressionism was an art movement that originated in the late 19th century by a group of Paris-based artists. The name of the style is derived from the title of a Claude Monet work, //Impression, soleil levant //, which provoked the critic Louis Leroy to coin the term in a satiric review published in the Parisian newspaper Le Charivari. Characteristics of Impressionist paintings include relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes; open composition; emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time); common, ordinary subject matter; the inclusion of //movement // as a crucial element of human perception and experience; and unusual visual angles. The development of Impressionism in the visual arts was soon followed by analogous styles in other media which became known as Impressionist music and Impressionist literature.

Impressionist Techniques 
 * Short, thick strokes of paint are used to quickly capture the essence of the subject, rather than its details. The paint is often applied impasto.
 * Colours are applied side-by-side with as little mixing as possible, creating a vibrant surface. The optical mixing of colours occurs in the eye of the viewer.
 * Grays and dark tones are produced by mixing complementary colours. In pure Impressionism the use of black paint is avoided.
 * Wet paint is placed into wet paint without waiting for successive applications to dry, producing softer edges and an intermingli
 * ng of colour.
 * Painting during evening to get effets de soir—the shadowy effects of the light in the evening or twilight.
 * Impressionist paintings do not exploit the transparency of thin paint films (glazes) which earlier artists manipulated carefully to produce effects. The surface of an Impressionist painting is typically opaque.
 * The play of natural light is emphasized. Close attention is paid to the reflection of colours from object to object.
 * In paintings made en plein air (outdoors), shadows are boldly painted with the blue of the sky as it is reflected onto surfaces, giving a sense of freshness that was not represented in painting previously. (Blue shadows on snow inspired the technique.)
 * Paintings often depict middle-class

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">media type="flickr" key="13386699@N00" ARG0="&tags=impressionism&lang=en-us&format=rss_200" width="500" height="500" <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Artworks <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">1st slide: Moulin de la Galette, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1876 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">2nd slide: Maternal Caress, Mary Cassatt, 1891 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">3rd slide: Woman in a Lodge, Mary Cassatt, 1879 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">4th slide: Summer's Day, Berthe Morisot, 1879 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">5th slide: A Bar at the Folies-Bergere, Manet, 1881 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">6th slide: Rouen Cathedral, Portal, Monet, 1894 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">7th slide: Olympia, Manet,1863 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">8th slide: On the Bank of the Seine, Bennecourt, Monet, 1868 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">9th slide: The Rehearsal on Stage, Degas, 1874 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">10th slide: Gare St-Lazare, Monet, 1877 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">11th slide: Luncheon on the Grass, Manet, 1863 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">12th slide: Nocturne in Black and Gold, the Falling Rocket, Whistler, 1875 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">13th slide: Paris Street, Rainy Day, Gustave Caillebotte, 1877