Is This An Impressionist Painting?

How do you describe a work of art?

With art terms, of course! We’ve heard you, and we’re here to answer your Frequently Asked Art Questions (FAAQs).

Let’s take a look at Sunrise (Marine) by French painter Claude Monet, an ideal work of art for our next topic: how to identify impressionism.

For the answer, watch the video, or read on below!

Does It Look Clearer from Far Away?

One way to spot an Impressionist painting is to get closer. Loose, broken, or “choppy” brushwork is a hallmark of the style. From far away, those strokes add up to a clear picture. But, up close, it's much harder to tell what you're looking at.

Many of the brush strokes look rushed and unblended, almost like they were applied in a hurry. That's because they often were.

Is It a Painting of the Outdoors?

Impressionists often painted the outdoors, because they were some of the first artists in history who could do so easily. Thanks to the recent invention of portable paint, they could get out of the studio to capture nature in the moment.

Painting quickly—often including just enough for an impression of finer detail—allowed them to capture fleeting beauty like the look of light reflected on water at sunrise.

When Was It Painted?

The impressionist movement emerged in France in the 1860s and 1870s and, although its influence was wide, the movement was short lived. If the work was painted in Europe during the late 19th or early 20th century, it’s a candidate.

Who Painted It?

If you spot a work by Monet, Renoir, Morisot, Pissarro, Cassatt, or Degas, you might be looking at impressionist art.