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Ivy Song
Mr. Dishman
Western Civilization
26 January, 2022

Impressionism with Art We See Today

More than any other phenomena of the start of modern art — impressionism transformed

the perspective of the public towards art and art related topics since the great reformation in

innovating the recording purpose of art into the expressed will of people, and creating the

economical values of art works. In the 1860s, the years that art was defined as the recording of

the world around us, which developed into the position where it’s been judged by its degree of

validity and elaboration. Impressionism was just like babbling babies using their dirty brush to

paint all these so-called impressions, which left all those masters of the salon all astonished and

felt like they were mocked.

Right before the invention of the painting tube that are widely used today to store paints,

artists were using materials that are as inconvenient as pig bladders, powders of minerals and

mixing oil, which debar the possibility of painting anywhere else besides the art studio. With the

new invention of photography and industrial-made paints lead to the foundation of

Impressionism — The Barbizon school, the first few schools who started to paint countryside

landscape as the subject, instead of making it the background of biblical stories. Monet, one of

the first few artists who considered themselves as an impressionist artist, went to paint from

nature in the constantly changing environment in the outside during his early painting ages, was

influenced by the style of Barbizon school on a fairly large scale. The same scratchy painting

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style which got developed stepwise thoroughly, unreplicable ambiance which would be painted

from the memory and everyday scenes, also became a part of Impressionism, and at the same

time, more antithetical from the “regulations” that are made from the French Salon.

Along with the rebuilding of old blocks in Paris, all the people were suffering from the

subtle changes, meanwhile, it seems like the impressionist artists were like a duck to water at the

time. All those interesting scenes and instinct scenes from normal life, and all the new things

born from the old, not only helped them in coming up with new topics, but also continuously

encouraged those evolutionists of art in doing the instinctual things and not caring what the

Salon and public may say about them.

At the time, all the artists who would want to have an income and fame in the art circle

would be forced to execute the antiquated, stereotypical studio style of French salons of that

time. All these, obscured the artists’ own imagination and creativity, and also limited the

countless talented, self-taught artists who didn’t want to be confined to a studio since those

masters would never appreciate the playful children like paintings so much. But meanwhile,

those masters would not be as courteous as they would in the former situation,“Who painted this

monster? Was it painted with a sweeping brush?” said by the judge of the Salon, giving approval

for paintings that would be specially cared for. On the opposite hand, Birth of Venus, the painting

which was done exactly as smooth, detailed and realistic as the regulations had said, received an

overly-high grade than it should be. After all, all people who would have the status to submit

their work to a salon and be seen, are mainly educated by the certified Academy who harshly

emphasize the style of history, of course, those masters are not excluded either.

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Along with the rebuilding of old blocks into apartments in Paris, all the people were

suffering from the subtle changes, meanwhile, it seems like the impressionist artists were like a

duck to water at the time. All those interesting scenes and instinct scenes from normal life, and

all the new things born from the old, not only helped them in coming up with new topics, but

also continuously encouraged those evolutionists of art in doing the instinctual things and not

caring what the Salon and public may say about them. Since all the avant painters such as the

Impressionists, were placed in an illusory context of artistic purity. (Ma, 502)

Due to the grateful result of the Impressionists Movement, the number of people who

would like to follow up the free steps of Impressionists instantly increased. Increasingly, there is

a tremendous amount of fresh blood seen by the market and public. One of the reasons for the

decline of classical large paintings is the inability to decorate modern apartments, and such

works are naturally rare in big galleries. (Ma, 530)

In the late 1900s, George Petit successfully influenced the environment of the art industry

as a whole. “Just steps away from Madeline, this luxurious gallery has huge staircases, a

spacious foyer, and is furnished with ancient statues, rare flowers… Even before stepping into

the gallery, he was awestruck by the audience’s feelings about what he was about to see.”

( Mainaridi, 1994). “He didn’t only provide art, but also showed a quality of life. He implied that

art symbolizes a social status, that to own it is to enter a certain circle, to share intimate tastes

and everything about the class.” (Ma, 528). Along with the emergence of commercial galleries, it

breaks down the old art slave method, which artists are only seen as the recording and spreading

machine of the Royal’s own fame, and became the new motivation for artists’ innovation. The

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purpose of owning art was no longer enjoying itself, instead, it can be an investment that

packaged to win, or an easy path towards higher social class. Impressionists won.

Since then, art has changed from the state ownership of marginal status to the current

private and profitable ways, and has given most people in the society the opportunity to contact,

appreciate and learn art. Art is no longer a luxury ornament to be hung high above the palace, nor

a tool for the leisure class to play with. “ Impressionism is at the root of all modern art, because it

was the first movement that managed to free itself from preconceived ideas, and because it

changed not only the way life was depicted but the way life was seen” – Franceso Salvi

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Sourcing Page:

1. biography.com editors “Claude Monet Biography”. The Biography.com website A&E

Television Networks, April 2, 2014, https://www.biography.com/artist/claude-monet

2. Editors of imperssionism.com, “Ending Conclusion: The Lasting Importance of

Impressionism”. http://www.impressionism.org/

finis.htm#:~:text=Later%20Influence%20of%20Impressionism,much%20further%20than%2

0they%20did.

3. Mainardi, Patricia “The End of the Salon:Art and the Sate in the Early Thrid Republic”

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Ma, Xiao “ The Enemy of Impressionists”.

Tsinghua University Press, 2017.

4. Ma, Xiao “ The Enemy of Impressionists”. Tsinghua University Press, 2017.

Xiao’s book introduced the basic function of French Academy and the environment and

standpoint it lays on during the transformational years of the art circle and also included the

results of this great transformation.

During this process, it doesn’t simply explain the textbook level historical event, but also

gives us a lot of small details of how the society and art circle really functions and gives a lot of

small points that only the people in the art circle would have experienced.

It would be more likely to be a first-person view with the explanation of points where we

are easy to misunderstand, rather than third-person view with academical views from a social

scientist. Which means, you can use this book either for historical understanding of the big

events in the society or art history study.

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5. ⽹易, “和莫奈⼀字之差的马奈，为何被称为 ‘印象派之⽗’”。 ⽹易⾸页，April 10,

2021, https://www.163.com/dy/article/G778CRK7055040N3.html