In the 1860s a group of young painters in Paris, among them Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Edgar Degas and Berthe Morisot, grew tired of the official Salon, whose juries favored polished history paintings. Like the Realists they painted modern life, but their real subject was light: how it changes from hour to hour and how it breaks into color.
On April 15, 1874, they opened their own exhibition in the former studio of the photographer Nadar on the Boulevard des Capucines. A critic, Louis Leroy, mocked a harbor view by Monet titled Impression, Sunrise and called the whole group "Impressionists." They kept the name. Eight group shows followed until 1886.
Key idea
Looking closely: Impression, Sunrise
Describe. The harbor of Le Havre at dawn: misty blue-gray water and sky, dim shapes of ships and smokestacks, small dark rowboats, and an orange sun with its reflection streaking across the water. Analyze. The paint is thin and quick; the brushstrokes stay visible as separate dabs and dashes. Edges dissolve in the haze. The orange sun is set against its complement, blue, so it glows, even though its value is nearly the same as the sky's. Interpret. The subject is not the port but a moment of light and atmosphere. Monet's title said so: this is an impression.
Why it works
Common mistake
In Woman with a Parasol Monet painted his wife, Camille, and their son on a breezy hill, seen from below against the sky. Grass, dress and clouds are made of the same quick strokes; her veil and skirt blow in the wind. The shadow side of her dress is blue and lilac, colored by the sky.
Worked example: Why is the shadow blue?
- Outdoors, a white surface in shadow is lit by the blue sky, not the sun.
- So the shadow takes on a cool, bluish color.
- Monet painted the color he saw, not the gray he was taught.
Answer: No: shadows outdoors are lit by blue skylight, so they look bluish.