The Impressionism Scorecard

How to tell if it's Impressionism

Impressionism emerged as an influential style of painting in late nineteenth-century Paris. These painters were rejected by the mainstream art authorities of the day, so they decided to play the game their own way. There were eight official Impressionist exhibitions between 1874 and 1886. Many of its practitioners continued to work in this style well into the twentieth century. The big names were:

• Pierre Bonnard 1867-1947 (Les Nabis, then Intimisme)
• Mary Cassatt 1844-1926 (American)
• Edgar Degas 1834-1917
• Claude Monet 1840-1926 (An Impression, Sunrise 1872)
• Berthe Morisot 1841-1895
• Camille Pisarro 1830-1903
• Pierre Auguste Renoir 1841-1919
• Alfred Sisley 1839-1899 (British, sort of)
• Édouard Vuillard 1868-1940 (Les Nabis, then Intimisme)

What does Impressionism look like? It’s the pretty paintings, full of sparkly colour and light. People always seem to be dancing, or swimming, or drinking, or having a good time (but not in a rowdy Dutch genre painting way). The sun is always setting, or rising, or charmingly obscured by mist. There is no historical subtext or allegorical burden to interpret. Impressionist paintings don’t moralize. They flirt. They party. They dwell in the moment. Impressionism is outrageous avant garde art from just long enough ago that we’ve forgotten how shocking it was, but not so long ago that we think it’s boring and ugly. Instead, we accord it our civilization’s highest honour: we put it on greeting cards and tote bags and coffee mugs.

How can you tell if you're looking at an Impressionist painting? Here’s a scoring system you can apply. According to this system, Monet's Rouen Cathedral, Harmony in Blue (1893 Oil on canvas) earns at least 55 points, definitely an Impressionist painting. The Seurat painting The Circus (1890-1891 Oil on canvas) only scored a 25—clearly influenced by Impressionism, but outside the tent. But da Vinci’s Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo (1503-1506 Oil on panel) gets a very un-Impressionistic –80 (or worse).

Take this scorecard into the gallery (or your art history class). Let’s see how well we can sort the sheep from the goats, shall we? I think it’s safe to say that any painting that scores less than zero is not Impressionism. Where’s the cut-off point? How can we fine-tune the scoring system to make sure it catches all Impressionist paintings without misidentifying not-so-Impressionistic works? For bonus marks, score a few paintings so we can calibrate the system. Feel free to suggest ways to fine-tune the weightings; should Parisian settings count for more, or less?

This scoring system is intended for entertainment purposes only. Glib blog commentary is no substitute for the informed opinion of an art history professional.

The Impressionism Scorecard

• Add 10 points if the work is by Bonnard, Cassatt, Degas, Monet, Morisot, Pissaro, Renoir, Sisley & Vuillard.
• Subtract 10 points for Pointillism (such as Seurat).
• Subtract 10 points for Fauvism (such as early Matisse).
• Subtract 10 points for Cloisonnisme (such as Gauguin).
• Subtract 10 points for anything painted before 1850 or after 1950.
• No points added or lost for Cezanne, Manet, Van Gogh, or Turner.
• Add 5 points for self-promotion or membership in an independent association of artists.
• Subtract 5 points if the work was accepted by the Académie de peinture et de sculpture for exhibition in the Salon.
• Add 5 points if the edges of subjects are blurry.
• Subtract 5 points if the edges of subjects are crisp.
• Add 5 points for sketchiness, dabs or visible brushstrokes.
• Subtract 5 points for subtle blending.
• Subtract 5 points for a smooth surface on the painting.
• Add 10 points for sparkliness and attention to the transient effects of light.
• Subtract 10 points for an idealized or generalized light source.
• Add 5 points for a light palette (high-key values).
• Subtract 5 points for a dark palette (low-key values).
• Add 5 points for lively, saturated colour.
• Subtract 5 points for moody, unsaturated colour or monochrome.
• Add 5 points for contemporary (19^th century) subjects and costumes.
• Subtract 3 points for each hero, Grace, Muse, angel, god, or mythical animal depicted.
• Add 10 points for a Parisian setting.
• Subtract 10 points for ships at sea.
• Add 5 points for Japanese props.
• Subtract 5 points for wild animals.
• Add 5 points for depictions of women with children. Who aren't dead.
• Subtract 10 points for trompe l'oeil.
• Add 5 points for cropping or an off-center focal point.
• Subtract 5 points overbearing use of one-point perspective.
• Add 5 points for candid poses.
• Subtract 5 points for idealized figures.
• Add 5 points for the landscape as a subject in its own right.
• Subtract 5 points for the landscape as a generic background to a narrative or a portrait.
• Add 10 points for anything painted en plein air.
• Subtract 10 points for anything painted en atelier.
• Add 5 points for the use of broken colour or scumbling.
• Subtract 5 points for colour mixing on the palette.
• Add 5 points for naturalistic depictions of bourgeois life.
• Subtract 5 points for moralistic depictions of peasant life.
• Subtract 5 points for anything narrative, allegorical, mythical, biblical, educational, inspirational, historical or uplifting.
• Add 5 points for dancers, horses, or haystacks.
• Subtract 5 points for military uniforms, weapons or combat.
• Add 5 points for coloured shadows.
• Subtract 5 points for black shadows.
• Add 5 points for oil paint from tubes.
• Subtract 10 points for fresco, egg tempera, or painting on panel.
• Subtract 10 points for anything where an onlooker said, "The eyes seem to follow you around the room" just on general principle.

What if you can't visit a gallery?

If you can’t get to a gallery, or an art history class, take a virtual tour. Score some of the fine works in the on-line collections of the Louvre (Hint: No Impressionism) and the Musee d’Orsay (Hint: Mostly Impressionism). Read up on some Impressionist background and generally enjoy art from the comfort of your Herman Miller Aeron chair.

Art on the Web

• Art before Impressionism, the Louvre, Paris
• Colour theory
• An Impression, Sunrise by Monet , the painting for which they named the whole movement
• A web exhibition on impressionism
• The National Gallery, London
• The Musèe d'Orsay, Paris
• The Art Institute of Chicago
• Art after Impressionism, Van Gogh

Comments

[jenna mitchell]

i have a question what is broken colour and if you can get back to me before the 7 of April that would be great as it is for a project.

yours sincerely
jenna mitchell

Oh, Jenna, a little effort if you please! Think of the WWWeb as an unjuried but well-indexed library... not a tutorial service. Google your key phrase "broken colour" and you'll find your answer... on another site of mine, The Painting Lesson, where I describe and illustrate all the key words I use teaching painting.

Linda

[jenna mitchell]

can you send me any interesting facts related to impressionist or artists that painted in this style.

from jenna

And hello again, Jenna. Second tip, folks, on asking people to do your homework for you: Maintain an accessible email address. My favourite interesting fact about Impressionist artists is that they are thoroughly documented in your local library and on the WWWeb. Google "Impressionism" kids. Use a second source to confirm your findings (a second source that hasn't cut-and-pasted the exact same words as the first). There, you're done "researching" and still have lots of time to cure cancer or read War & Peace, or whatever else you were going to do that was more important than learning something.