Impressionism

Both French and Australian Impressionists painted rapidly in order to capture the scenario as see n outside and adopted the French technique of ‘broken colour’ was to apply quick, short and often thick brushstrokes to the canvas.

Due to the ever changing light and atmosphere of the day, French Impressionist artists had to paint rapidly to achieve their aim of capturing a ‘fleeting moment in time’. This resulted in a textured, pastel like appearance. The sketchiness of the artwork was to convey something of the experience of the rapid movement or variety in a particular scene.   Throughout the 19th century the industrial revolution contributed to Monet’s impressionist technique. Smaller canvases allowed the artists to venture into the outdoors, capturing the unattainable light and atmosphere of the day. Monet’s quick application of paint resulted in a ‘wishy washy’ interpretation of the scene. In Monet’s ‘Woman with a Parasol’, the depiction of a young woman has been sketchily applied in short brush strokes, portraying the strength of the wind as it blows through her hair. As the paint brush darts across the canvas it creates curvy lines in the sky creating a textured like appearance. Even though the climate and atmosphere of Australia and Europe are very different, the techniques used to portray them are the same. In Arthur Streeton’s ‘Impressions for Golden Summer’ (1888–89) the sunny atmospheric landscape of the countryside has been achieved through the quick short brush strokes of rustic oranges and bright yellows, depicting the strength of the sun. The quick brush stroke creates smears of white oil paint across of the orange landscape, highlighting the tips of the mound.  
The ‘broken colour technique’ came into play as French Impressionists used short "broken" brush strokes of mixed and pure unmixed colour applied directly onto the canvas to achieve the effect of the atmosphere. Using thin, broken layers of paint allowed the lower layers of colour to shine...