What is American Impressionism? Does my work fit?” are questions that are often asked. Read insights from our Founders, Officers, Board Members and a few Master Members.
William Schultz AIS AIS Founder
Charlotte Dickinson AIS AIS Founder and Board Member American Impressionism ranges from pure Impressionism, such as John Twachtman, Childe Hassam, and Willard Metcalf; to Edward Redfield, Aldro Hibbard, Emile Gruppe and their contemporaries, among whom were Charles Movalli, William Schultz, and the many working Masters of today. Impressionism is characterized by loose brushwork and some realism, thereby being more creative and showing something of the artist's soul.
Granting a few exceptions in the history of art, the Impressionists were the first to approach their subjects with a new vision and perform the act of pure painting! This pure act of painting can be appreciated as we step up and closely inspect the Impressionist canvas, where we find open dabs of paint applied thick and thin juxtaposed and superimposed, bits of open canvas and smudges of underpainting showing through. The beauty of the materials - paints, canvas, brush marks, paper, chalk, etc. - a pure act of masterful use of the materials where the camouflage image as seen on close inspection magically transforms itself into the masterful vision of reality as seen through the light conscious eyes and fine tuned sensitivities of the Impressionist painter's eyes.
Mark Daly AIS Board Member
Cheryl St. John AIS AIS Secretary Impressionism to me is a spontaneous
Bill Schneider AISM Awards Judge 2020 Bill shared a quote, attributed to Richard Schmid: ‘People don’t want to know what you SEE, they want to know what YOU see." It’s accurate and simultaneously loose. The viewer fills in the missing pieces. I try to see how far I can go (to destroy the form) while still keeping the image recognizable.
Impressionism is an immediate and imprecise visual art form that portrays a spontaneous and personal interpretation of everyday life. It typically focuses on light, color, movement, and emotion.
interpretation of a scene using little detail and expressive brush strokes. The viewer is to use their imagination to determine what it represents or means to them...or “fill in the blanks.”
Anne Blair Brown AISM Awards Judge 2021
Terry Proctor AIS Board Member
C. W. Mundy AISM Awards Judge 2021
The ability to evoke emotion or a sense of light, atmosphere, and space through brushwork and paint application.
Impressionism is a genre of painting, where the artist is inspired by light on the subject. The work is then painted with strokes of color, value, and temperature that play off each other without fine details, except at the center of interest.
A broad interpretation of Impressionism has morphed into what I would call “energetic realism”. In my discoveries, at first glance, the painting seems to be realistic, but looking at the inner parts of all its forms, it is very charismatic in paint manipulation.
AIS Definition American Impressionism is “The concern for light on form, color, and brushstrokes. Allowing equal latitude between these attributes, and recognizing not a single definitive element, but several factors including light and hue, visual breakdown of detail, concern for contemporary life, and cultivation of direct and spontaneous approaches to a subject.”
americanimpressionistsociety.org
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