The Play of Light and Color
Impressionism is an art movement that originated around 1860/70 in France and soon spread across Europe. The name is derived from Claude Monet's painting Impression, soleil levant, which was exhibited at the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874.
The focus of this then-novel style of painting was no longer on accurate representation, but on the subjective impression of the artist. Color, light, and atmosphere became more important than content or classical composition. Instead of painting in the studio, many artists worked outdoors (plein air painting) to capture the changing light conditions directly.
From Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism later emerged with the technique of Pointillism, where pure colors were applied in small dots next to each other.
The most famous Impressionists include Bazille, Manet, Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, Degas, and Renoir. Cézanne and van Gogh are also often included, although they developed the style further and thus became important precursors of Expressionism—as did Gauguin and Munch. In Germany, Liebermann, Uhde, Slevogt, and Corinth were significant representatives of Impressionism.
