Modern Art & Impressionism Overview

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, artists, techniques, and concepts related to Modern Art and the Impressionist movement.

Modern Art (1870-1970)

Umbrella term for artworks that broke from Renaissance traditions, explored new materials, techniques, and ideas about art’s role in reflecting the world.

Rejection of Renaissance Traditions

Modern artists abandoned linear perspective, idealized forms, and academic rules to pursue experimentation and personal expression.

New Materials and Techniques

Innovations such as industrial paints, unconventional media, and novel brushwork used to question how art should be made.

Impressionism

Paris-based art movement (c. 1872-mid-1880s) focused on capturing fleeting effects of light and atmosphere with loose brushwork and bright colors.

Impression, Sunrise (1872)

Claude Monet painting that inspired the term “Impressionism” through its sketch-like depiction of Le Havre’s harbor at dawn.

Claude Monet

French painter whose light-filled landscapes became emblematic of Impressionist aims and techniques.

Side-by-Side Color Application

Impressionist method of placing unmixed pigments next to each other so that optical blending happens in the viewer’s eye.

Optical Color Mixing

Visual phenomenon where adjacent strokes of pure color merge at a distance, producing vibrancy without physical mixing.

Visible Brushstrokes

Deliberate, loose strokes that reveal the artist’s hand and convey movement and spontaneity.

Light Colors

High-key palette favored by Impressionists to evoke sunlight and atmospheric effects.

Emphasis on Light

Central Impressionist goal to record shifting natural light and its impact on color and form.

Ordinary Subject Matter

Everyday scenes—cafés, streets, leisure activities—painted to reflect contemporary urban life.

Unusual Visual Angles

Cropping and tilted viewpoints influenced by photography, lending immediacy to Impressionist compositions.

Influence of Photography

Cameras captured split-second realities, prompting artists to portray transitory moments with personal interpretation rather than exact replication.

Edouard Manet

French painter (1832-1883) who bridged Realism and Impressionism by depicting modern life with bold, flat touches of color.

The Barque of Dante (Delacroix, 1822)

Romantic painting of Dante and Virgil on the River Styx; noted for its innovative water-droplet detailing, foreshadowing later expressive techniques.