Literal Definition

• The first person to use the word impressionism was art critic Louis Leroy, in reference to Claude Monet's painting " Impression, Sun." Leroy considered the work sloppy and incoherent, so he praised it sarcastically for " making an impression." He followed that comment by claiming that uncolored wallpaper looked more finished. He was not alone in this sentiment as the Impressionists intentionally used methods that went against the conventions of their artistic contemporaries.
  
  

Impressionist Style

• Though the Impressionist artists did not choose the label for themselves, it aptly categorized their mutual approach to painting. For Monet and Degas, the visual experience of a subject was more important than the exact details. They painted with fast and heavy brush strokes, used brighter colors and tried to capture light in its natural state. The goal was to capture the immediate sensation of the settings-- in other words, the initial impression seen by the human eye.
  
  

Impressionist Subjects

• Impressionists tended to focus on objects and landscapes found in everyday life, most notably suburban and urban environments. The goal of the Impressionists was to capture the immediate perception of the subject, so they selected predominantly people and places that their audience would find familiar. Many painters in the movement even chose to paint their pictures in the open air instead of in a studio to better capture the immediacy of their subjects.
  
  

Artists

• Most of the famous painters of the late 19th century were impressionists. These included Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Paul Cezanne, Marie Cassat, Edgar Degas and Edouard Manet. It should be noted that while the Impressionists used similar methods and often exhibited together, they did not all affiliate themselves with the term. Degas strongly denied that he was an Impressionist, despite being one of the most identifiable of the Impressionist painters and working closely with others in the movement.
  
  

Legacy

• The impact of Impressionism upon the art world led subsequent painters to experiment against the movement's principles. A new movement, Expressionism, similarly promoted the value of individual perception but used a deliberately subjective style, imposing the artist's personal vision onto the subject. By the end of the 19th century, the art world would enter the Post-Impressionist movement, where artists tried to expand beyond the principles of both Expressionism and Impressionism. This movement had more diversity of style and was more difficult to classify.