I’m passionate about art as much as I’m passionate about travel. So, when these two come together, I’m in heaven. That’s why I never miss an opportunity to visit museums and galleries when I’m on a trip.
I’m deeply interested in local art and also I love Impressionism. During my first trips I was curious to discover that many countries have their local Impressionist artists who are way less famous than the Impressionists from France. And I concentrated on studying the history of art and finding Impressionist artists in the countries I visit. Let me invite you to a virtual trip to Spain, Slovenia, Croatia, Austria and Turkey to see the best examples of local Impressionism.
SPAIN
The main Spanish Impressionism painter also know as a 'Master of bright light and white color', is Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida. Most of his iconic works are exhibited in Sorolla Museum in Madrid which I haven't visited yet. However I've been to Prado Museum in same Madrid that has some of his works, including the famous Boys on the Beach (1909):
Sorolla started his painter’s career from historical genre and realism. His works of that period are rather obscure which makes a great contrast to his subsequent Impressionism paintings that are full of bright sunlight, air, and white color.
Another Spanish Impressionist and a close friend of Sorolla whose paintings you can also find in Prado, is Aureliano de Beruete. I like his Landscape, El Pardo (1910 – 1911):
Beruete travelled to Europe a lot and had an opportunity to obtain knowledge of Impressionism from the French painters, including Claude Monet.
SLOVENIA
Ivana Kobilca is the most prominent Slovenian female artist. She was a realist painter who studied and worked in many European cities. In the late 19th century, many artists were influenced by the Impressionist movement. Ivana Kobilca however managed to keep her art somewhere between Impressionism and realism.
When I was in Ljubljana, I was lucky to visit an exhibition at the National Gallery of Slovenia which was dedicated to the art and life of Ivana Kobilca. Here is her Dutchwoman (1886) that I love so much:
CROATIA
Vlaho Bukovac, also known as Biagio Faggioni, is considered to be the father of Modern art in Croatia. Though his style changed greatly during his career, he is most known for his Impressionist period. He studied in Paris where later he set up his studio.
Just like in Slovenia, I was again lucky to attend an amazing exhibition which took place in Klovićevi dvori gallery in Zagreb. Here is In May (1898) by Vlaho Bukovac:
AUSTRIA
There is not much information about Austrian Impressionists. In many sources Theodor von Hörmann is regarded as the first and only Austrian Impressionist painter. He met with the French Impressionists at the Vienna World Exhibition of 1873 and then moved to France where he lived and painted between 1887-1990. Some of his works, like Girl in Poppies (1892), can be found in the Belvedere in Vienna:
TURKEY
At first, I thought that finding traces of Impressionism in Turkey would be an extremely difficult thing to do. Luckily, I was wrong. The French language and culture played an important role in Turkey in the second half of the 19th century. French was the language of modernization used by diplomats, politicians, and writers in Turkey.
The art couldn’t stay aside, so Turkey has its own Impressionist painters and Osman Hamdi Bey is one of the most prominent among them. Osman Hamdi Bey is also the founder of Istanbul Archaeology Museums and the Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts. Most of his works, including Portrait of Naile Hanım (1910) can be seen in the Sakıp Sabancı Museum, a private fine arts museum in Istanbul:
All pictures are taken from the websites of the mentioned museums.