Impressionist Painters

An art aficionado, I am not.  But like most people, my attention can easily be captured by an impressive painting.  The artwork of Claude Monet has always impressed me.  However, it appears that Monsieur Monet had to work arduously at developing a fan base who appreciated his art. Of course, Auguste Renoir painted female nudes. Not that he wasn't a great artist because his subjects were bare naked ladies. But gathering appreciative admirers was not as difficult. Nevertheless, through his persistence Monet's paintings have gained the recognition they deserve and there are many of today's artists who will readily admit that their art style has been influenced by the work of Claude Monet.

As all of the impressionist painters named are already well known, there is a wealth of information about them that can be found online.  Since they are no longer with us, there is nothing substantial left to be added (unless authentic secret diaries or original works stashed in someone's attic are discovered).  Below are links to condensed biographies of each artist which serve as an excellent introduction should you wish to know more about them.

The ArtStory.org published a biographical snap-shot of:

• Claude Monet (1840 – 1926);
• Édouard Manet (1832 – 1883); and
• Edgar Hilaire Germain Degas (1834 – 1917).

For the biography of Pierre Auguste Renoir, visit notablebiographies.com.

A wonderful presentation of the life of Jacob Camille Pissarro (1831 – 1903) can be found at impressionniste.net.

PBS.org provided an introduction to the life of Paul Cézanne (1839 – 1906) for the program which aired July 2006 entitled Cézanne in Provence.
 

If interested, artcyclopedia.com is an online database where the artwork of thousands of artists can be viewed freely.

~ Impressionism ~

A word that now labels an accepted and respected artistic style, was originally a feeble attempt to insult a man whose skillful use of the paintbrush made a lasting impression on the viewers.

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