Impressionism: Defining the First Modern Art Style

This report examines Impressionism, a pivotal moment in art history. It argues that Impressionism was the first true modern art style, born in the 1860s and spreading across Europe and the United States. The report highlights how Impressionism departed from traditional art forms by embracing on-the-spot painting, loose brushwork, and a lighter color palette. The report discusses the critical reception of this style, specifically referencing Edouard Manet's "Le dejeuner sur l’herbe" and Alfred Sisley's "The Bridge at Sevres" to illustrate the movement's impact. The report emphasizes how Impressionism sought to capture the sensory effects of the objects, thus establishing a new approach to art. The report concludes that Impressionism is, indeed, the first true modern art style.

Running head: IMPRESSIONISM, THE FIRST TRUE MODERN ART STYLE
IMPRESSIONISM, THE FIRST TRUE MODERN ART STYLE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

2IMPRESSIONISM, THE FIRST TRUE MODERN ART STYLE
The aim of the present paper is to state that impressionism is indeed the first true modern
style of art as considered my many.
Impressionism was a modern art that genuinely can be referred to as the first true modern
art style. First developed in Paris in the 1860’s and then spread its influence in the rest of the
Europe and the United States. Before impressionism, the artists created art that was imaginary
and had a more linear perspective. The paintings had more clarity that delineated the different
elements of the painting and focused more on the landscapes (Lecoutre, Negrevergne & Yger,
2017). The artists during the impressionism movement changed this and started painting on the
spot. They used free brushwork and they lightened their colour palettes that had pure and intense
colors. Because of this loose brushwork, many criticized the paintings for their unfinished
appearance and its amateurish quality. The painting by Edouard Manet “Le dejeuner sur I’herbe”
in 1863 had caused an uproar when it was first presented. The imprecise use of brush strokes that
flattened the three-dimensional quality of the painting of two men and two nude women later
influenced many impressionalists for their portrayals (Fry, 2018). Another painting by Alfred
Sisley “The Bridge at Sevres” in 1877 shows that impressionism portrayed the simplicity of life.
The artists tried to capture the sensory effect of the objects that created art in the modern way in
a true sense. Therefore, it can be concluded that impressionism is indeed the first true modern art
style.

3IMPRESSIONISM, THE FIRST TRUE MODERN ART STYLE
References
Fry, R. (2018). The French post-impressionists. In Modern Art And Modernism (pp. 89-92).
Routledge.
Lecoutre, A., Negrevergne, B., & Yger, F. (2017, November). Recognizing Art Style
Automatically in painting with deep learning. In Asian conference on machine
learning (pp. 327-342).