The history of modern art begins with Impressionism, a movement started in Paris in the mid-1800’s. At that time many artists painted in a very traditional way that involved spending hours in a studio, painstakingly (辛苦地) creating paintings that were extremely detailed. These paintings were sometimes of people or landscapes or historical events. In 1863, Edouard Manet exhibited his painting “Dejeuner sur l’erbe” at the Salon des Refuses. The painting caused a commotion (骚动), thus starting the Impressionist movement. Although Edouard Manet is the declared leader and founder of the group, he was not present at the first group exhibition or any of the other eight collective Impressionist shows. The movement gained more attention in the April of 1874 when Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Jean-Frédéric Bazille formed Society of Artists, Painters, Sculptors, Engravers and began exhibiting outside of the official salon. The same year, the term Impressionism was invented by criticizing (批评的) journalist Louis Leroy to describe their paintings, who worked for the magazine Le Charivari.
The Impressionists often paint out of doors and want to show how light and shadow fall on objects at particular times of the day. Their works are sometimes described as “captured moments” and are characterized by short quick brushstrokes (笔) of colour which, when viewed up close looks quite messy and unreal. If we step back from the Impressionist paintings, the colours are blended together by our eyes and we are able to see the painters’ subjects which often show colourful landscapes, sunlight on water as well as people busy with outdoor activities.
小题1:Before Impressionism, the works of artists were .
A．quite abstract
B．very confusing
C．very detailed
D．quite controversial小题2:Who first started Impressionism? ___________
A．Claude Monet.
B．Edouard Manet.
C．Auguste Renoir.
D．Alfred Sisley.小题3: The works of the Impressionists are best viewed .
A．with imagination
B．at a distance
C．outdoors
D．in a studio小题4:The second paragraph is mainly about ______.
A．the painting style of the Impressionists
B．how to describe the Impressionist paintings
C．the influences of the Impressionist paintings
D．the subjects of the Impressionist paintings
