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American Impressionism American Impressionism by Chris Nicholson In the years following the Civil War, American art underwent a fundamental shift. The traditional Romantic style of painting, which focused on portraying majestic scenes in stark, vivid lines and shapes, gave way to a new concern for light and atmosphere. It was the age of Impressionism. Impressionism was not indigenous to America. In fact, its origins lay in France, which had long been at the fore of …

…at once a part of a larger movement, but at the same time very definitely American. It was the age of American Impressionism. Bibliography Gerdts, William H. American Impressionism. Cross River Press, New York: 1984. McShine, Kynaston. The Natural Paradise: Painting in America 1800-1950. Museum of Modern Art, New York: 1976. Novak, Barbara. American Painting of the Nineteenth Century. Praeger Publishers, New York: 1969. Unger, Irwin. These United States: Questions of Our Past. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ: 1995.