Impressionism in Western art: An evaluation and discussion of the lives, times and works of Manet, Monet and Renoir

This essay provides comprehensive information on works by three artists known for their influence in the period known as Impressionism. Highlights of the following topics will be discussed: Overview of Impressionism; The Salon; Outdoor; Color; Patrons; Women; Japan; Crisis; Culture, Times and Trends; Inventions; Biographies of the three artists, and finally descriptions and comments of the three works – Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass (Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe), Monet’s Luncheon on the Grass, and Luncheon of the Boating Party by Renoir. These artists and specific works were selected due to the strong similarity of style and sameness of subject matter.
Overview of Impressionism
The word Impressionism was neither invented nor approved of by those who participated in the movement, and conveyed little of their real artistic ambitions. It defies any easy definition. The name was first used in an 1875 article written by Louis Leroy, titled, Exhibition of the Impressionists. (The Thames & Hudson Encyclopedia of Impressionism, 1990). It would refer to a group of artists who developed new ways of depicting the world and displayed works [that appeared unfinished] in exhibition between 1874 and 1886, in Paris.

[...] In 1902, Renoir and Aline moved to the South of France where the warm climate ease the severe arthritis he had, which made it difficult for him to paint. Despite his illnesses, he began a series of sculptures, echoing the nude figures in paintings.Aline died in 1915 of a heart attack; Renoir passed on December and was buried next to her. In 1990 he had been made a Knight of the Legion d’ Honneur and in his last year became a Commander of the Legion, a great honor. [...]

[...] The next year instead of exhibiting in the 5th Show, to the disgust of others like Degas and Pissarro, Monet submitted his works to the Salon. (WebMuseum). In 1892, when Ernest Horschede died, Monet and Alice married and by the 1900s, his work was selling for substantial sums of money. Finally, he could afford his dream of creating a large flower and water garden. He then began a succession of waterscapes and landscapes that became an obsession and led to a series of 48 canvases exhibited in 1909. [...]

[...] The new, more theoretical works of artists like Seurat and Signac marked the end of the original movement. (Cole & Gealt, 1989). The Culture, Times and Trends 1850s Paris was still a medieval city, with narrow, winding streets, little sanitation and no outdoor lighting. By 1870s, the city was completely demolished and rebuilt. The long boulevards lined with cafés, restaurants and theatres turned into a ‘modern metropolis.’ Emperor Napoleon III, appointed architect, Baron Haussmann to rebuild Paris. He created 31 miles of new boulevards, parks, squares, churches, balconied apartments, and began construction on the Opéra and Louvre Palace. [...]