EPRIS
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est. 2026 · a division of the journal
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Impressionism

light before outline

The moment the eye was trusted over the drawing. Colour laid down wet beside wet, edges left unfinished because that is how a glance arrives.

works 12artists 9dates 1866 – 1893entry free
← all halls
Impressionist painting of two girls on balcony, bright flower hat, knitting basket.
Key work of the hall Pierre-Auguste Renoir Two Sisters (On the Terrace) 1881 · Oil on canvas
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
Painting of mother in blue, purple, and green-stripped dress washing child's feet.
Mary Cassatt The Child's Bath 1893 · Oil on canvas
France · 101.3 × 67.3 cm
Robert A. Waller Fund
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
Loosely painted image of an open-air train station. On the right, a parked train gives off an enormous plumb of white smoke, making the scene look as though it were full of clouds. A huddled mass of barely discernible people crowd around the train on both sides of the tracks. Blue, green, and gray tones dominate.
Claude Monet Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare 1877 · Oil on canvas
France · 60.3 × 80.2 cm
Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
Painted portrait dominated by loose, large brushstrokes of a woman, seen from the back, wearing a gauzy white off-the-shoulder dress and black choker, blond hair swept up, examining herself in a mirror at left. The background is a feathered swirl suggesting floral pattern in cool pale tones of gray, purple, pink, and blue.
Berthe Morisot Woman at Her Toilette 1875–80 · Oil on canvas
France · 60.3 × 80.4 cm
Stickney Fund
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
Painting of a beach on a cloudy day with several sailboats on the water, a few rowboats on the shore, and two groupings of people on the sand.
Claude Monet The Beach at Sainte-Adresse 1867 · Oil on canvas
France · 75.8 × 102.5 cm
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
Painting of two fishermen in small wooden boat on rocky seas.
Winslow Homer The Herring Net 1885 · Oil on canvas
Prouts Neck · 76.5 × 122.9 cm
Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
A sparsely painted waterside scene in dark tones with minimal ghostly shapes suggesting ships, yellow glitches of paint for light reflections, and the orb of an orange moon overhead.
James McNeill Whistler Nocturne: Blue and Gold—Southampton Water 1872 · Oil on canvas
London · 51 × 76.7 cm
Stickney Fund
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
Two girls in acrobatic uniforms stand in an arena, one holds oranges.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir Acrobats at the Cirque Fernando (Francisca and Angelina Wartenberg) 1879 · Oil on canvas
France · 131.2 × 99.2 cm
Potter Palmer Collection
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
Impressionist painting of woman wearing green dress trying on hats.
Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas The Millinery Shop 1879-86 · Oil on canvas
France · 100 × 110.7 cm
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
Small painting of woman in pink and black sitting on park bench.
William Merritt Chase A City Park c. 1887 · Oil on canvas
New York City · 34.6 × 49.9 cm
Bequest of Dr. John J. Ireland
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
Painting of four figures in blue, red, brown dresses playing croquet.
Winslow Homer Croquet Scene 1866 · Oil on canvas
United States · 40.3 × 66.2 cm
Friends of American Art Collection; Goodman Fund
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
Winter landscape painting with rocky stream lined by orange leafed trees.
John Henry Twachtman Icebound c. 1889 · Oil on canvas
Greenwich · 64.2 × 76.6 cm
Friends of American Art Collection
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain

Where you are

Impressionism on the plan of the building.
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upper tier · +6.40 circulation spine void over court light drops to the tier below 06 Post-Impressionism 12 works · 18x12 m 07 Modernism 12 works · 18x12 m 08 Ukiyo-e 12 works · 16x12 m 09 Pictorialism 12 works · 18x10 m 10 Folk Art 12 works · 16x10 m dn lower tier · +0.00 circulation spine court · open air 01 Renaissance and Before 12 works · 18x12 m 02 The Seventeenth Century 12 works · 18x12 m 03 The Barbizon School 7 works · 16x12 m 04 Realism 12 works · 18x10 m 05 Impressionism 12 works · 16x10 m you are here up entrance 52 m 10 m N ▭ hall, width follows the size of the hang · ⌐ door · ▤ open-air court · ≡ stair upper tier · +6.40 circulation spine dn 06 Post-Impressionism 12 works 07 Modernism 12 works 08 Ukiyo-e 12 works 09 Pictorialism 12 works 10 Folk Art 12 works lower tier · +0.00 circulation spine up 01 Renaissance and Before 12 works 02 The Seventeenth Century 12 works 03 The Barbizon School 7 works 04 Realism 12 works 05 Impressionism 12 works you are here court · open air entrance 10 m N

Every work shown here is in the public domain and comes from the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, published under its Open Access programme (CC0). Artist, title, date, medium and the museum’s own credit line are printed under each plate, and every plate links to the object record in Chicago. EPRIS Museum claims no rights in these images.