Impressionism

1860–1890

Painting light as it actually appears — outdoors, fleeting, broken into spectral components. The tube paint revolution enabled plein air work.

Pre-mixed tube paints. No black (Monet). Complementary colors in shadow. Broken brushwork for optical mixing.

1 artist6 colors

Claude Monet

1840–1926

French

Founder of Impressionism. The Water Lilies are the culmination of a 60-year pursuit of light.

Banned black from his palette. Built up thick impasto layers en plein air. Late works approach abstraction.