Impressionism (pronounced im-presh-uh-niz-uhm)
(1) In fine art (an appropriated by others), a style of
painting developed in the late nineteenth century, characterized by short brush
strokes of bright colors in immediate juxtaposition to represent the effect of
light on objects and a focus on everyday subject matters (by convention usually
with an initial capital).
(2) A manner of painting in which the forms, colors, or
tones of an object are lightly and rapidly indicated and there’s sometimes an attempt
deliberately to include discordant subjects.
(3) In sculpture, a compositional style in which volumes
are partially modeled and surfaces roughened to reflect light unevenly.
(4) In poetry, a style which used imagery and symbolism
to convey the poet's impressions
(5) In literature, a theory and practice which emphasizes
immediate aspects of objects or actions without attention to details.
(6) In musical composition, a movement of the late nineteen and early twentieth centuries (in parallel with the developments in painting) which eschewed traditional harmonies, substituting lush pieces with subtle rhythms, the unusual tonal colors used as evocative devices.
1880–1885: The construct was impression + -ism. Impression was from the Old French impression, from the Latin impressio, from imprimo (push, thrust, assault, onslaught; squashing; stamping; impression), the construct being in- (the prefix which usually to some extent nullified but here in its rare form as an intensifier) + premō (to press), from the Proto-Italic premō which may be linked with the primitive Indo-European pr-es- (to press), from per- (to push, beat, press). The –ism suffix was from the Ancient Greek ισμός (ismós) & -isma noun suffixes, often directly, sometimes through the Latin –ismus & isma (from where English picked up ize) and sometimes through the French –isme or the German –ismus, all ultimately from the Ancient Greek (where it tended more specifically to express a finished act or thing done). It appeared in loanwords from Greek, where it was used to form abstract nouns of action, state, condition or doctrine from verbs and on this model, was used as a productive suffix in the formation of nouns denoting action or practice, state or condition, principles, doctrines, a usage or characteristic, devotion or adherence (criticism; barbarism; Darwinism; despotism; plagiarism; realism; witticism etc). Impressionism and impressionist are nouns; the noun plural is impressionisms.
The meanings of impressionism are wholly unrelated to impressionistic
which is used to describe an opinion reached by means of subjective reactions as
opposed to one which was the product of research or deductive reasoning (ie based
on impression rather than reason or fact).
As a noun an impressionist is (1) one who in art, music or literature
produced work in the tradition of impressionism or (2) an entertainer who
performs impressions of others (a mimic).
Although by some used in philosophy since 1839, impressionism really isn’t
a recognized field in the discipline, instead used metaphorically (and often
critically) to describe certain tendencies which share similarities with the
artistic movement. Those who describe
themselves as impressionist philosophers reject the idea that objective
knowledge or absolute truths exist and instead stress the importance of
individual perception and personal experience, arguing that individual (and
debatably collective) understanding of the world is determined only by the
wholly subjective: senses and emotions. They’re
thus much concerned with perception, consciousness, and the nature of reality. In all that there’s obviously some overlap
with earlier traditions and mainstream philosophers tend to be dismissive, some
suggesting impressionism is less a philosophical school than a mode of which
has been explored for millennia.
Impressionism was an art movement
that which emerged in France in the late nineteenth century and was a romantic
form, the core of which was the capturing of a fleeting moment (ie an
impression) in time and place, characterized by the play of light and color,
rendered with what gave the impression of loose (even careless) brushwork, the
paint often applied in brief, broken strokes. Breaking from the intricacy and preciseness which
had distinguished high art since the renaissance, the artists sought a feeling
of spontaneity rather than the staged effect engendered by meticulously rendered
details. The whole idea was to “capture
the moment” those transitory scenes one might view thousands of times a day and
their subject matter so often were the vistas of everyday light, the apparent
casualness of the composition an important psychological aspect because such
visions are so often hazy because the mind tends to remember only the part which
has captured the eye while in memory the peripheral surroundings are “burred”
or even vaguely “filled in” from memory.
The artists wanted to represent the immediate sensory impressions of a
particular moment rather than a polished and composition. Given all this, it’s not surprising the Impressionists
so frequently painted en plein air (ie outdoors) because there natural light
and breezes made for an ever-changing environment, idea for a technique dedicated
capturing the ephemeral.
In the way of such things, from Impressionism, very late in the
nineteenth century came post-impressionism.
Deliberately positioned as a reaction against what had come to be
regarded as the strictures and limitations of Impressionism, it was noted
especially for an expressive and symbolic use of color which neglected and
sometimes even abandoned the link with naturalistic representation, the intensity
of shade itself a vehicle of an artist’s personal interpretations. It also distorted form and perspective, the exaggerations
wildly beyond anything in the mannerist tradition and the influence upon the
cubists who would follow is undeniable.
Something of a preview of post-modernism, the concerns were more with laying
bare the underlying structure rather than showing anything directly
representational. However, despite the perceptions
of some, technical innovation was rare and even the techniques most associated
with the movement had been seen before although famously, the post-impressionists
delighted in non-naturalistic color schemes.
While this was something which caught the eye, it again wasn’t exactly
new and the claims it somehow created a heightened emotional impact have always
seem hard to sustain although they certainly displeased the Nazis who decried
paintings “green skies” and “blue dogs”.
Still, the work influenced Fauvism and Cubism and there are critics who
maintain post-impressionism was the first discernible epoch in modern art.
Although
post-impressionism can be seen to some extent as something new, the companion
neo-impressionism was really a fork. The
alternative name of the movement was Divisionism which hints at the scientific
basis which underlay many of the works, most notably pointillism (the use of tiny
dots which blended optically when viewed from a distance) which explored the principles
of the physics of color and light by rendering paintings almost as a
mathematical exercise and one far removed from the spontaneous brushwork of
Impressionism. Color under this regime came
to be understood in itself as a theory, the concept of “simultaneous contrast” expressed
in the placement of contrasting or complementary colors explored to exploit the
way the brain processed the relationship by either “toning down” or making more
luminous the visual experience. The work
was thus in the impressionist tradition of using light and color but it was different
in that instead of representing an impression of how nature was seen, it deployed
a scientific understanding of how the mind perceived and interpreted light and
color to produce something which enhanced the effect. In that sense it’s understood as a
structuralist movement.
Neo-impressionism should not be confused with Expressionism, a
contemporary movement from Germany which some have characterized (not wholly
unfairly” as “painting Friedrich Nietzsche’s (1844–1900) nightmares”. The expressionists sought to convey the subjective
emotions, inner experiences and psychological states of the artist; the viewer
was there simply to view and understand the feelings of the artist who seem
frequently drawn to the darker aspects of human existence. They used distorted and exaggerated forms, heavy
brushwork, and non-naturalistic colors designed expressly to be discordant. The classic example of Expressionism is Edvard
Munch’s The Scream (1893).
Florida-based Lucas Bufi describes himself as “modern Impressionist artist, guided by light and shadows”. His take on Lindsay Lohan was based on one of the images from a 2011 photo-shoot for the January/February 2012 issue of Playboy magazine which featured her as the cover model. It can be difficult to determine where impressionism ends and expressionism begins.
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