Impressionism is to Classical Painting, as Jazz is to Classical Music.

A New Wave of Impressionists

In the beginning, the public was unsympathetic to Impressionists’ ideas and techniques. But slowly and surely, the art world started to believe that these artists had captured something fresh, innovative, and original. In our time, we can see how Impressionism became the gateway to modern art. And its philosophy still can present a fresh way of looking at our contemporary world.

The Industrial Revolution motivated the founders of natural and post-impressionism. The technological revolution can feed us in the new wave of Impressionism. As the camera and the train gave rise to new ways, the electron microscope and the jet transport can spark our ideas in new ways.

The photograph of Earth from the moon opened new and exciting options that our predecessors could not have imagined. The camera freed the Impressionists from the representational and inspired them to see their world with new eyes. Today, we have the Hubble telescope opening up a new world to inspire us.

The new Impressionists have a bright future, and it is happening now, and you can be a part of it.  Impressionism is a ‘timeless’ art movement for it allows the artists today and in the future, a way to share with their viewers precious moments of the ordinary lifted up to the extraordinary that is of the good, beautiful, and true.

The same sun that illuminated the hearts and minds of our predecessors continues to shine upon us now. There is still beauty in the world for our hearts to feel and our minds to see. Put these two together, and you will have the seedbed to join the next generation of Impressionist painters. We simply must get out there to allow our brush to dance.

Impressionism and Jazz

Impressionism is to classical painting, as jazz is to classical music. They both are difficult to define, but one thing they do have in common is improvisation. Jazz is a confluence of African and European musical traditions, while Impressionism confluence of Asian and European visual art traditions.

A jazz musician can play the same musical arrangement night after night yet plays each composition differently. An Impressionist painter can paint the same subject month after month yet paint it differently each time.

Both the jazz performer and the Impressionist painter have much in common as these two art forms interpret passion in the moment. The mood and moment in relation to individual experience are key to these art forms. They both have structure, while they have both freedoms. Science and poetry are blended effortlessly to become one.

Impressionism and jazz were not styles; they were revolutions that presented a new set of artistic virtues. Jazz and Impressionism were also communal. Both movements did not start as creative expressions in the mainstream; both grew because each artist inspired each other to develop hope within them. There no longer needs to be a divide between the old and new, or between the constructionist and deconstructionist, for synthesis is the inspiration for the Impressionist artist.