The Evolution of the Impressionist Movement in Terms of Three Masters: Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, and Pierre Auguste Renoir

Abstract

The Impressionists were revolutionaries even if they dreaded that very idea. They succeeded in liberating painting from "academic form" because they stood up for their beliefs like no previous artists ever had. Their unabashed use of pure, bright colors opened the doors for their successors. The Impressionists broke the bonds which up until their time had tied artists to strict rules and guidelines. From their era on, painting became a matter of individuals expressing their personalities. The art of the twentieth century as we know it could not have been created without the discoveries of Impressionism. No longer are noble themes and organized compositions prerequisites for a "good" work of art. Very few, if any, rules exist today to define what art should be.