In addition to dictating the content of paintings, the Acad�mie commanded which techniques artists used. They valued somber, conservative colors.

Refined images, mirroring reality when closely examined, were esteemed. The Acad�mie encouraged artists to eliminate all traces of brush strokes � essentially isolating art from the artist's personality, emotions, and working techniques. Predictably, the Acad�mie and Impressionist artists did not get along.

The Acad�mie held an annual art show � Salon de Paris. Only works selected by the Acad�mie jury exhibited in the show. The standards of the juries about suitable art for the salon was quite rigid.

In 1863, the jury rejected, "Le D�jeuner sur l'Herbe", by �douard Manet, primarily because it depicted a nude woman, with two clothed men, on a picnic.

According to the jury, nudes were only acceptable in historical and allegorical paintings, but, to show them in common settings was forbidden. Manet felt humiliated by the sharply worded rejection of the jury, setting off a firestorm among many French artists, including, of course, Impressionist artsits.

In 1863, to retaliate against the Acad�mie's dominance, a group of artists, mainly Impressionist artists, formed an independent show, which they dubbed, "Salon des Refus�s", (Salon of the Refused).

For years, art critics rebuked the Salon des Refus�s. In 1874, critic Louis Leroy (an engraver, painter, and successful playwright) visited the show and wrote a scathing review.

Taking his cue from the title of a painting done by an obscure artist, he titled his article, "The Exhibition of the Impressionists". He wrote the review in the form of a dialogue and derided the show.

With this title, he had targeted the painting, "Impression, Soleil Levant", by Claude Monet. Leroy declared the painting was, at most, a sketch and could hardly be termed a finished work.

The term "impressionists" gained favor with the artists, not as a term of derision, but as a badge of honor, and a new movement was born. The techniques and standards of Impressionist artists varied, but the spirit of rebellion and independence bound the movement together.

Impressionist Techniques

Short, thick strokes of paint in a sketchy way, allowing the painter to capture and emphasize the essence of the subject rather than its details.

Colors, with as little pigment mixing as possible, allowing the eye of the viewer to mix the colors as one looked at the canvas, and providing a vibrant experience for the viewer.

Impressionist artists did not tint (mix with black) their colors in order to obtain darker pigments. Instead, when the artists needed darker hues, they mixed with complementary colors. (Black was used, but only as a color in its own right.)

They left brush strokes on the canvas, adding a new dimension of familiarity with the personality of the artist for the viewer to enjoy.

Impressionist artists discovered and emphasized aspects of the play of natural light, including an acute awareness of how colors reflect from object to object.

In outdoor paintings, they boldly painted shadows with the blue of the sky as it reflected onto surfaces, giving a sense of freshness and openness that was not captured in painting previously. (Blue shadows on snow inspired the technique.)

They painted wet paint onto wet paint, instead of waiting for successive applications to dry, producing softer edges and intermingling of color.

Impressionist artists avoided the use of thin paints to create glazes, which earlier artists had built up carefully to produce effects. Rather, the impressionists put paint down thickly and did not rely upon layering.

They painted what and how they wanted to paint.

Previous artists occasionally used these techniques, but impressionists used them consistently. Earlier examples are found in the works of Frans Hals, Peter Paul Rubens, John Constable, Theodore Rousseau, Gustave Courbet, Camille Corot, Eugene Boudin, and Eug�ne Delacroix.

Impressionist artists took advantage of the introduction, in the 1870s, of premixed paints in tubes (resembling modern toothpaste tubes) which allowed artists to work more spontaneously, both outdoors and indoors. Previously, each painter made their own paints by grinding and mixing dry pigment powders with linseed oil.

Content and Composition

Even though, historically, painting was viewed as primarily a way to depict historical and religious subjects in a rather formal manner, painters portrayed everyday subjects. Many 17th century Dutch painters, like Jan Steen, focused on common subjects, but their works showed the influences of traditional composition in arrangement of the scene.

When Impressionism began, there was interest among the artists in mundane subject matter, and a new method of capturing images became available. Photography was gaining popularity, and as cameras became more portable, photographs became more candid. Photography inspired impressionists to capture the moment, not only in the fleeting lights of a landscape, but in the day-to-day lives of people.

Photography and popular Japanese art prints combined to introduce to impressionists odd "snapshot" angles, as well as unconventional compositions.