Heather James Fine Art presents an eclectic survey of French and American Impressionism, exploring their origins but more importantly, the dialogues between artists, between movements, and between artist and subjects.

In the mythologizing of art history, Impressionism landed like a lightning bolt. Not only in visual language, the art movement upended what subject matter was depicted. Painting “en plein air” (in plain air outdoors) and influenced by the radical perspective of Japanese woodcuts, the Impressionists captured the changing landscape as France became industrialized. With a growing middle class, the artists found both new subjects and new clients to purchase their works.

With works ranging from 1872 to c. 1945, the show illustrates how the Impressionist movement developed over time. Beginning in 1872 with Claude Monet’s “L’Ancienne rue de la Chaussee, Argenteuil” the exhibition captures Impressionism’s early sentiments. 1872 was an important year for the French Impressionists as it was when the first of their eight exhibitions took place and the genre’s identify took form. In fact, the piece of art that gave Impressionism its name, “Impression, Sunrise” was painted in the same year and the same town of Argenteuil.

As the tenants of Impressionism spread, other artists were inspired to apply these principles to their own settings. As the US expanded West, so did Impressionism, eventually finding the beautiful scenery of the Pacific coast with works by the California Impressionists, such as William Wendt’s “Laguna Hills”.

These giants of art history from Monet to Frieseke did not develop in a vacuum but were in constant conversations with each other, advancing their craft and perspective alongside each other. Radical and revolutionary, the Impressionists were in dialogue amongst themselves, with art history, with their subjects, and with their audience.