American Impressionist
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American Impressionism was a style of painting related to European
Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
and practiced by American artists in the United States from the mid-nineteenth century through the beginning of the twentieth. The style is characterized by loose brushwork and vivid colors with a wide array of subject matters but focusing on landscapes and
upper-class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status. Usually, these are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper cla ...
domestic life.


Emerging style

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
emerged as an artistic style in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
in the 1860s. Major exhibitions of French impressionist works in Boston and New York in the 1880s introduced the style to the American public. The first exhibit took place in 1886 in New York and was presented by the American Art Association and organized by Paul Durand-Ruel . Some of the first American artists to paint in an impressionistic mode, such as Theodore Robinson and
Mary Cassatt Mary Stevenson Cassatt (; May 22, 1844June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh's North Side (Pittsburgh), North Side), but lived much of her adult life in France, whe ...
, did so in the late 1880s after visiting France and meeting with artists such as
Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...
. Others, such as
Childe Hassam Frederick Childe Hassam (; October 17, 1859 – August 27, 1935) was an American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressionis ...
, took notice of the increasing numbers of French impressionist works at American exhibitions. Impressionism was initially unpopular in the United States. At the first exhibit in 1886, Americans were attracted to the landscape paintings but were offended by the realist figures and nudity depicted in other paintings. American artists were hesitant to adopt the style of Impressionism while studying in France as it was created as a radical rejection of tradition at the Academy and American artists hoped to gain acceptance through their traditional academy studies. Over time, American patrons began to accept the abstract forms of Impressionism, especially as American artists, such as Mary Cassatt, began to adopt the styles of French Impressionism.


Mary Cassatt

Mary Cassatt played a large role in the adoption of Impressionism by American patrons. Mary Cassatt formed a close relationship with
Edgar Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints, and drawings. Degas is e ...
, who, impressed by her work, invited her to show with the French Impressionists in 1877. She was the only American ever to exhibit her work alongside the original Impressionists in France. Through her connections to wealthy upperclass Americans, Cassatt convinced many of her friends of the artistic merits of Impressionism and encouraged the purchase of French works.


Characteristics of American Impressionism

Unlike early Renaissance painters, American Impressionists favored asymmetrical composition, cropped figures, and plunging perspectives in their works in order to create a more "impressionist" version of the subject. In addition, American impressionists used pure color straight from the tubes to make the works more vibrant, used broken brushstrokes, and practiced "impasto"- a style of painting characterized by thick raised strokes. European impressionists painted tranquil scenes of landscapes or the lower and middle classes. American impressionists focused on landscapes like the European impressionists, but unlike their European counterparts, American impressionists also painted scenes of quiet domesticity, in contrast to the emergence of industrialization.


Impressionism in the Industrial Age

As railroads, automobiles, and other new technologies emerged, American impressionists often painted vast landscapes and small towns in an effort to return to nature.


Trailblazers

From the 1890s through the 1910s, American impressionism flourished in art colonies—loosely affiliated groups of artists who lived and worked together and shared a common aesthetic vision. Art colonies tended to form in small towns that provided affordable living, abundant scenery for painting, and relatively easy access to large cities where artists could sell their work. Some of the most important American impressionist artists gathered at Cos Cob and
Old Lyme, Connecticut Old Lyme is a coastal town in New London County, Connecticut, United States, bounded on the west by the Connecticut River, on the south by the Long Island Sound, on the east by the town of East Lyme, and on the north by the town of Lyme. The town ...
, both on
Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a sound (geography), marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York (state), New York to the south. From west to east, ...
; New Hope, Pennsylvania, on the Delaware River; and Brown County, Indiana. American impressionist artists also thrived in California at Carmel and Laguna Beach; in New York on eastern
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
at Shinnecock, largely due to the influence of William Merritt Chase; and in Boston where Edmund Charles Tarbell and Frank Weston Benson became important practitioners of the impressionist style.


Jazz Age decline

Some American art colonies remained vibrant centers of impressionist art into the 1920s. But with the advent of the Ashcan School in 1910, the tides of the American art world started change. Impressionism in America further lost its cutting-edge status in 1913 when a historic exhibition of modern art took place at the 69th Regiment Armory building in New York City. The “
Armory Show The 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was organized by thAssociation of American Painters and Sculptors It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America, as well as one of the many exhibition ...
”, as it came to be called, heralded a new painting style regarded as more in touch with the increasingly fast-paced and chaotic world, especially with the outbreak of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, The
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
and
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Notable American impressionists

Prominent
impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
painters, from the United States include: * John White Alexander (1856–1915) * J. Ottis Adams (1851–1927) * Lucy Bacon (1857–1932) * George Herbert Baker (1878–1943) * John Noble Barlow (1861–1917) * Thomas P. Barnett (1870–1929) * Reynolds Beal (1867–1951) * Marilyn Bendell (1921–2003) * Frank Weston Benson (1862–1951) * Johann Berthelsen (1883–1972) * Warren Eugene Brandon (1916–1977) * John Leslie Breck (1860–1899) * Matilda Browne (1869–1947) * John Elwood Bundy (1853–1933) * Dennis Miller Bunker (1861–1890) * Theodore Earl Butler (1861–1936) *
Mary Cassatt Mary Stevenson Cassatt (; May 22, 1844June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh's North Side (Pittsburgh), North Side), but lived much of her adult life in France, whe ...
(1844–1926) * William Merritt Chase (1849–1916) * Alson S. Clark (1876–1949) * Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937) * Paul Cornoyer (1864–1923) * Joseph DeCamp (1858–1923) * Thomas Dewing (1851–1938) * George Dinckel (1890–1976) * Frank DuMond (1865–1951) * John Joseph Enneking (1841–1916) * Carl Eytel (1862–1925) * Pedro Figari (1861–1938) * Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874–1939) * Daniel Garber (1880–1958) * Robert F. Gault (1898–1977) AWS * Arthur Hill Gilbert (1893–1970) * Edmund Greacen (1877–1949) * Richard Gruelle (1851–1914) *
Childe Hassam Frederick Childe Hassam (; October 17, 1859 – August 27, 1935) was an American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressionis ...
(1859–1935) * William Samuel Horton (1865–1936) * Wilson Irvine (1869–1936) * Charles S. Kaelin (1858–1929) * Joseph Kleitsch (1882–1931) (California Impressionist) * Albert Henry Krehbiel (1873–1945) * William Langson Lathrop (1859–1938) * Hayley Lever (1876–1958) * Laura Muntz Lyall (1860–1930) * Theodore Lukits (1897–1992) * Victor Matson (1895–1972) * Willard Metcalf (1858–1925) * Richard Edward Miller (1875–1943) * Abram Molarsky (1879–1955) * Robertson Kirtland Mygatt (1861–1919) * George Loftus Noyes (1864–1954) * Frank Nuderscher (1880–1959) * Leonard Ochtman (1854–1935) * Julian Onderdonk (1882–1922) * William McGregor Paxton (1869–1941) * Edgar Alwin Payne (1883–1947) * Clara Elsene Peck (1883–1968) * Van Dearing Perrine (1869–1955)1869–1955. Member, National Academy. http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/4aa/4aa26.htm * Lilla Cabot Perry (1848–1933) * Fritz Poock (1877–1945) * Edward Henry Potthast (1857–1927) * Edward Willis Redfield (1869–1925) * Robert Reid (1862–1929) * Theodore Robinson (1852–1896) * Edward Francis Rook (1870–1960) * Guy Rose (1867–1925) * Porfirio Salinas (1910–1973) *
John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era, Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil ...
(1856–1925) * Paul Sawyier (1865–1917) * Christian von Schneidau (1893–1976) * Edward Simmons (1852–1931) * Sueo Serisawa (1910–2004) (California Impressionist) * Tim Solliday (born 1952) * George Sotter (1879–1953) * Anna Huntington Stanley (1864–1907) * Otto Stark (1859–1926) * T. C. Steele (1847–1926) * Edmund Charles Tarbell (1862–1938) * Ross Sterling Turner (1847–1915) * John Henry Twachtman (1853–1902) * Edward Charles Volkert (1871–1935) * Robert Vonnoh (1858–1933) * Clark Voorhees (1871–1933) *
Marion Wachtel Marion Kavanaugh Wachtel (June 10, 1873/77 – May 22, 1954) was an American plein air painter in watercolors and Oil painting, oils. She lived and worked with her artist husband Elmer Wachtel in the Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County), Arroyo ...
(1875–1954) * Fred Wagner (1860–1940) * Martha Walter (1895–1976) * J. Alden Weir (1852–1919) * Catherine Wiley (1879–1958) * Robert William Wood (1889–1979) * Mary Agnes Yerkes (1886–1989)


Gallery

File:Cassatt Mary Lilacs in a Window 1880.jpg,
Mary Cassatt Mary Stevenson Cassatt (; May 22, 1844June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh's North Side (Pittsburgh), North Side), but lived much of her adult life in France, whe ...
, ''Lilacs in a Window'', 1880 File:Celia Thaxter's Garden.jpg,
Childe Hassam Frederick Childe Hassam (; October 17, 1859 – August 27, 1935) was an American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressionis ...
, '' Celia Thaxter's Garden'', 1890,
The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5.36 million v ...
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File:Brooklyn Museum - Dolce Far Niente - John Singer Sargent - overall.jpg,
John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era, Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil ...
, ''Dolce Far Niente'', 1907,
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
File:Edmund Charles Tarbell - Au verger.jpg, Edmund C. Tarbell, ''In the Orchard'', 1891,
Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...
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File:Chase William Merritt Idle Hours 1894.jpg, William Merritt Chase, ''Idle Hours'', 1894, Amon Carter Museum,
Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...
File:Brooklyn Museum - On the Beach - Edward Henry Potthast - overall.jpg, Edward Henry Potthast, ''On the Beach'', ,
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
File:John H. Twachtman 001.jpg, John Henry Twachtman, ''The White Bridge'', , Minneapolis Institute of Arts File:Julian Alden Weir Ravine near Branchville.jpg, J. Alden Weir, ''Ravine near Branchville,'' 1905–1915, Dallas Museum of Art


See also

* Boston School * California Impressionism * Hoosier Group * Pennsylvania Impressionism * Richmond Group * Ten American Painters


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * *


External links

*
American Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
', a fully digitized 3 volume exhibition catalog
''American impressionism and realism : a landmark exhibition from the Met''
a 1991 exhibition catalog from the Metropolitan Museum of Art libraries


"The Artist's Garden: American Impressionism", Exhibition on Screen


* ttp://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aimp/hd_aimp.htm "American Impressionism", The Met Museum
"Finding Beauty in Land", ''The New York Times''
{{Impressionists American art movements