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Art Essentials
Impressionism
An introduction to the impressionist movement, highlighting the great artists, their masterpieces, and impressionism’s enduring influence. It is often forgotten just how provocative and unsettling impressionist canvases seemed when they were first exhibited in 1874. Critics, professional artists, and gallery visitors alike were shocked to encounter the unorthodox paintings on display, with their seemingly unfinished surfaces and lack of any elements of traditional composition. The advocates of this new approach rejected nearly all the established principles and practices of oil painting prevalent at that time in France. Tracing the origins and history of impressionism in a concise, introductory volume, Ralph Skea highlights the major differences between the new techniques and aesthetic principles of the impressionists and the academic art they abhorred, and goes a step further in exploring the original intellectual focus of the movement. Skea explores the impressionists’ desire to investigate their own sensory perceptions when painting, which resulted in their unique “impressions.” An ideal companion for museum-goers, as well as those who are entirely new to the subject, Impressionism weaves an engaging narrative around a selection of striking illustrations, discussing the movement’s greatest artists, their works and where to find them. 85 illustrations in color
- GenresArtNonfictionHistory
176 pages, Paperback
Published October 15, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 19, 2024
very pretty, very nice, very wholesome, but it kept on bringing up van gogh over and over again. i do not care about vincent and i did not ask for his opinion on every artist. please let him be.
otherwise it was a good read.
otherwise it was a good read.
June 4, 2022
Loved how thorough yet accessible this was. I would like to read more from the 'art essentials' series.
April 29, 2021
Отличная книга для знакомства с импрессионизмом в целом, и с именитыми художниками этого направления в частности. Описание идёт от истоков до 50х гг. ХХ в. Очень порадовали иллюстрации знаменитых полотен в замечательном качестве. Даже после прочтения книгу можно сохранить для вдохновения.
June 5, 2020
Impressionism... a perfect blend of famous and lesser known paintings, art history, and the stories behind artists in the Impressionist movement. Tiny bits of information were offered throughout, highlighting explanations for painting certain subjects or why a composition was framed in a certain way by the artist, much like casual banter provided on a museum tour by a docent.
February 22, 2026
An interesting and informative book.
Recently, I went to see an exhibition on Impressionist art that was on loan to our local art gallery from the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. The docent who gave us a guided tour was really good and stirred my interest in Impressionist and post-Impressionist art.
This book by Ralph Skea is very readable. It gives a good introduction in a succinct way tracing how French Impressionist art developed. It included influences from the Barbizon school and also precursors such as English landscape artist John Constable.
I was especially interested in post-Impressionism eg Pointalism, Syymbolism, Expressionism and Cubism. I was able to learn a little bit more about artists such as Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gaugin, Emile Bernard and Edvard Munch and how Impressionism had influenced them in their early days and how they eventually moved aways from it.
This book also covers Impressionism that developed later in America and Australia, and how it still thrives in France. It was rather interesting to learn that many American artists went to Paris to study and train in art. This included American Theodore Robinson and Theodore Butler, who eventually married one of Monet’s daughters; as well as Australian John Russell, who met Monet, and Tom Roberts.
I like this ending paragraph regarding the relevance of impressionism today: "The best answer is to abandon any notion that it is a fixed style with rigid parameters - for example plein air landscape painting, domestic interiors and attractive garden scenes. The true legacy rest with other factors implicit in impressionist methodology: artist should have the confidence to paint any subject matter that they perceive as significant; there should be a recognition of the ongoing value of a representational art based on imaginative observation, not on concepts of formulate compositions; there is a need to explore the complexities of colour and light in a rigorous fashion; it is important to accept that only a subjective, fleeting impression of an environment can be achieved in any painting; a realization that observation, as practised by the Impressionists, is a creative and intellectual activity; to understand the potential of skillful painterly technique in creating expressive images. the impressionist painted the canvases in the context of all these principles that are just as relevant today."
The author concluded that in a letter to his sister, Van Gogh speculated that future generations of painters would emulate the skills demonstrated by the impressionists, of "working decisively without hesitation, measuring correctly in an instant, skillful mixing of color, drawing at lightning speed - a generation will come that will do this not as we do now, alone, unloved, but with a public that will like it."
I only wish the point size for the text is larger because it is really quite strenuous to read everything in such small point size. Which is quite a shame because the writing is pretty good and succinct.
Recently, I went to see an exhibition on Impressionist art that was on loan to our local art gallery from the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. The docent who gave us a guided tour was really good and stirred my interest in Impressionist and post-Impressionist art.
This book by Ralph Skea is very readable. It gives a good introduction in a succinct way tracing how French Impressionist art developed. It included influences from the Barbizon school and also precursors such as English landscape artist John Constable.
I was especially interested in post-Impressionism eg Pointalism, Syymbolism, Expressionism and Cubism. I was able to learn a little bit more about artists such as Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gaugin, Emile Bernard and Edvard Munch and how Impressionism had influenced them in their early days and how they eventually moved aways from it.
This book also covers Impressionism that developed later in America and Australia, and how it still thrives in France. It was rather interesting to learn that many American artists went to Paris to study and train in art. This included American Theodore Robinson and Theodore Butler, who eventually married one of Monet’s daughters; as well as Australian John Russell, who met Monet, and Tom Roberts.
I like this ending paragraph regarding the relevance of impressionism today: "The best answer is to abandon any notion that it is a fixed style with rigid parameters - for example plein air landscape painting, domestic interiors and attractive garden scenes. The true legacy rest with other factors implicit in impressionist methodology: artist should have the confidence to paint any subject matter that they perceive as significant; there should be a recognition of the ongoing value of a representational art based on imaginative observation, not on concepts of formulate compositions; there is a need to explore the complexities of colour and light in a rigorous fashion; it is important to accept that only a subjective, fleeting impression of an environment can be achieved in any painting; a realization that observation, as practised by the Impressionists, is a creative and intellectual activity; to understand the potential of skillful painterly technique in creating expressive images. the impressionist painted the canvases in the context of all these principles that are just as relevant today."
The author concluded that in a letter to his sister, Van Gogh speculated that future generations of painters would emulate the skills demonstrated by the impressionists, of "working decisively without hesitation, measuring correctly in an instant, skillful mixing of color, drawing at lightning speed - a generation will come that will do this not as we do now, alone, unloved, but with a public that will like it."
I only wish the point size for the text is larger because it is really quite strenuous to read everything in such small point size. Which is quite a shame because the writing is pretty good and succinct.
December 29, 2022
Being a complete Novice when it comes to Understanding or Viewing Art. I found this book extremely informative and I am walking away with a greater understanding of impressionism, its works, the artist and styles. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to gather more knowledge of the art world.
June 12, 2023
Enlightening - liked Degas the best.
October 11, 2023
3,5⭐️
June 3, 2024
Lovely images, but supporting text was disjointed and repetitive.
January 19, 2025
Absolutely loved reading this book.
July 24, 2020
Un cours essai pour aborder l’impressionnisme. Il est très bien construit, avec des reproductions de tableaux très soignées. C'est didactique et plaisant à lire, alors c'est un grand oui pour moi !
De mon côté, je n'ai pas forcément appris grand chose, ayant déjà beaucoup lu sur le sujet mais j'ai apprécié les chapitres sur l'impressionnisme étasunien et australien, et sur les héritiers de ce mouvement.
De mon côté, je n'ai pas forcément appris grand chose, ayant déjà beaucoup lu sur le sujet mais j'ai apprécié les chapitres sur l'impressionnisme étasunien et australien, et sur les héritiers de ce mouvement.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews