From the time of the Renaissance (1400’s) artists had been occupied with trying to depict in their art the natural world. Their highest achievement was to capture the appearance of life as if looking through a window.
Paintings were highly representational and tried to capture a moment in time.
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The Impressionist revolutionized art by separating it from the requirement to represent exactly what is seen.
Instead they intended to capture a brief glimpse, a fleeting feeling, a quick and loose attempt. An “impression” of the world around them at that moment in time.
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Claude Monet “Impression Sunrise”, 1872
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Claude Monet, “Water Lily Pond”, 1899
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Expressionism
Impressionism was based on a recording of nature especially color and light.
Post-Impressionist were more interested in an expressive stylized representation of the things around them.
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Fauvism
The style of les Fauves (French for “wild beasts”), a loose group of early twentieth-century Modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong color over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism.