Editing Abstract impressionism (section)

=== Differentiation ===
{{See also|Cubism|Futurism|Abstract art|Impressionism}}

Both the exhibition and the movement in general were considered by many to highlight a distinct differentiation from preceding movements,<ref name=":1" /> despite some critics, like Alan Bowness, arguing the works of the movement were not differentiated enough from previous works.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":12" />

Despite this controversy, abstract impressionism has been considered an ideological opposition to the other post-war movements of the era- specifically its growing countermovements, [[Cubism]] and [[Futurism]].<ref name=":2" /> Whilst Futurism focussed on rejecting the art of the past,<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|title=Futurism {{!}} Definition, Manifesto, Artists, & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/art/Futurism|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2020-05-04}}</ref> abstract impressionism sought to incorporate techniques from numerous movements before it.<ref name=":2" /> This included both the [[Abstract art|Abstract]] and [[Impressionism|Impressionist]] movements of the early 1900s and the 1860s respectively.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book|last=Denvir|first=Bernard|title=The Chronicle of Impressionism: A Timeline History of Impressionist Art|publisher=Bulfinch Press|year=1993|isbn=082122042X|location=Boston}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite book|last=Gaff|first=Jackie|title=1910-1920 The Birth of Abstract Art: A History of Modern Art|publisher=Heinemann Library|year=2000|isbn=0836828496|location=Oxford}}</ref> Additionally, abstract impressionists were unwilling to subscribe to the rationality and mathematic precision of Cubism.<ref name=":0" /> They rejected the idea of creating an image out of divided parts, and instead sought to create a mass of colour and imagery, that would only be recognisable as a whole.<ref name=":0" />

Abstract impressionism has been considered a result from an artist deviation from the ''"expressionistic aggressiveness of the forties"'', and the simultaneous embracing of both new abstraction techniques and more traditional roots of nature and lyrical appreciation.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Seitz|first=William|date=1956-10-01|title=Monet and Abstract Painting|journal=College Art Journal|volume=16|pages=34–46|jstor=}}</ref>

In terms of distinguishing themselves from traditional Impressionist works, abstract impressionists deviate in a way that Elaine de Kooning describes as ''"keep[ing] the Impressionist manner of looking at a scene, but [leaving] out the scene... thereby giving an old style a new subject"''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=De Kooning|first=Elaine|title=The Spirit of Abstract Expressionism: Selected Writings|publisher=George Braziller|year=1955|isbn=978-0807613375|location=New York|pages=62}}</ref> Simply put, they add abstraction onto Impressionism and take away the reliance on specificity and exactness.