Abstract Impressionism

Abstract impressionism refers, in general, to a style of visual representation in which artists focus on the use of colors with no need to depict realistic images. It is also strongly linked to the New York School of the 1940s, more famously linked to abstract expressionism. Both abstract impressionism and abstract expressionism are American styles in their inception, the first methods developed in the United States to reach worldwide preeminence. The aesthetic of abstract expressionism, however, enjoys greater recognition than abstract impressionism.

The term abstract impressionism was coined by abstract expressionist painter Elaine de Kooning, who was the first to recognize the nascent style as a new style that was similar yet distinct from abstract expressionism. In fact, several renowned abstract impressionist painters began their careers as abstract expressionists.

Brief History

Abstract impressionism originated in post-World War II New York City. When abstract impressionism appeared on the art scene, New York City had already been positioned as a worldwide art center by the abstract expressionist school of the 1940s.

The 1950s saw an increased interest in nineteenth-century impressionism among the US public, which had been sparked by the publication of some notable art books on the subject. Another catalyst was the celebrated Pierre Bonnard perspective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1948. Shows by Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and other impressionist painters followed, with a wave of publications featuring the impressionist movement and its artists. These cultural events created a resurgence of interest in impressionism in the global art world and marked a move away from the expressionism that had predominated up to the 1940s.

Artist Elaine de Kooning noticed this difference in the mid-fifties, recognizing that abstract impressionism was different from both abstract expressionism and from the impressionism of the nineteenth century, though sharing similarities with both. She noted, for example, that New York impressionist painters of the twentieth century adopted the impressionist way of contemplating a landscape yet left out the depiction of the scene. What remained were abstract allusions of landscapes.

The emergence of New York School artists such as Ad Reinhardt, Bradley Walker Tomlin, and Philip Guston in the mid and late 1950s raised the prominence of abstract impressionism. In 1956, Guston’s work was seen as leading the abstract impressionist movement when Guston moved beyond the more aggressive style of his abstract expressionism. A seminal article published that same year by artist and critic Louis Finkelstein titled "The New Look: Abstract Impressionism" further cemented the movement. Finkelstein argued that the new impressionist painters focused on color and followed the expressionist techniques of the fauvists in convergence with the historic impressionism of artists such as Pierre Bonnard, striving to reflect the fluid and transient experience of contemporary life.

Overview

Abstract impressionism, an American movement that has never gained the broader recognition enjoyed by abstract expressionism, combines elements of two schools: modern abstract and impressionism, as well as elements of surrealism.

Modern abstractionism, born in the late nineteenth century, really took off in the post-World War I years. It refers to a style in which artists focus on emotion and expression rather than the accurate depiction of an object or scene. Through elements such as color, light, and large and spontaneous brushstrokes, abstract painters sought to provoke an emotional reaction in the audience without specifically describing the objects in the painting.

Nineteenth-century impressionism presents small brushstrokes and an emphasis on light and movement, which were characteristics that attracted abstract impressionists in the twentieth century. Another element of interest to abstract impressionists was the combination of light and space, which creates a sense of all-over openness. This combination of smaller brushstrokes and spatial work became one of the marks that distinguished it from late abstract expressionism. As opposed to abstract expressionism, which commonly utilized large, energetic brushstrokes to express intense emotions, abstract impressionists used smaller and more careful brushstrokes, like those of impressionist Claude Monet, to express contemplative moods. The contemplative mood tends to permeate the application of color, which is done slower and more intentionally than in abstract expressionism.

Although there were important predecessors in abstract impressionism, Philip Guston is considered a contemporary leader of the movement, particularly when he began to add distinguishable shapes to his otherwise abstract works, such as human figures and parts and domestic objects. In time, his paintings became less abstract and more realist. Other artists in the field worth mentioning are, among others, Domenic DiStefano and Chriss Pagani.

Some experts have named Canadian artist Jean-Paul Riopelle as the progenitor of the abstract impressionist movement. Riopelle, a prolific artist who produced over two thousand paintings in his lifetime, focused on textures and color in his paintings, for example, by applying thick layers and impasto, creating volume as well as color. Riopelle eventually ventured into sculpture as an extension of his artistic body of work.

To date, debates continue as to what counts as an abstract impressionist piece. Some experts have included forms of cubism, whereas other experts argue that, in order to be considered abstract impressionism, an artwork must possess distinguishable elements from the impressionist school. It remains, however, that abstract impressionism must always be clearly a painting and not show elements of realism. It is not that abstract impressionist work should not depict real objects; it is that such objects should be depicted in highly abstract shapes or rendered into simplified forms.

Abstract impressionists share some similarities with abstract expressionists, such as the belief in freedom of expression and the focus on an artist’s individual style rather than on the representation of objects. The degree to which abstract impressionists may include recognizable objects in their work varies. Contemporary artists DiStefano and Pagani, for example, are examples of the more representational side of abstract impressionism.

Bibliography

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