Blog Post Number 2

     Impressionism is a style of painting characterized by loose brushwork and vivid colors.  In the late 1800's and early 1900's American artists started developing a style of Impressionism that was similar to French artists.  Painting mostly outdoors, these artists created a heightened sense of reality in their artwork.  Many paintings are of landscapes or scenes of leisure.  It can be said that American Impressionists tended to retain more structure and realism in their work.  While the artists of this period replicated the French style, their work is more of an American interpretation of it.  Using European approaches and blending their own ideas together these artists formed a collective identity as they applied their own ideals to the American scene.

J. Ottis Adams was an impressionist artist and a member of the renowned "Hoosier Group" of artists that were popular from 1890 to about 1915.  Adams specialized in painting the rural landscapes of his home town Indiana.  Two famous paintings of his are a copy of Peter Paul Rubens "The Lion Hunt" and the painting "Wheeling Pike as it appeared in 1891"

William Morris Hunt is another famous impressionist painter.  William Morris Hunt was the leading painter of mid 19th century Boston, Massachusetts.  Below is one of his later paintings called Niagara Falls.  This is another example of a painting that uses a lot of vivid colors and is of a painting of something outdoors.

Richard Miller was another major American Impressionist painter and a member of the famous Giverny Colony of American Impressionists.  Miller was primarily a figurative painter, known for his paintings of women posing in outdoor settings.  He is best described as a "decorative impressionist".  Below is an example of one of Richard Millers paintings and we can see here women pictured in a cafe.