Impressionism appeared in France between 1860 and 1870, then it spread out around all Europe. The name for this artistic movement comes from Claude Monet's painting, "Impression, soleil levant", which he presented in 1874 during the first Impressionist art exhibition. During this period, this painting style seemed revolutionary: for the first time, the painter did not paint what he exactly saw, but tried to represent his impressions. This way of painting was very innovative, compared to other artworks of the same period and, in this context, painters started to play with the effects created by the light on colors.
After the revolution of Impressionist painting, this movement evolved into Neo-impressionism.
The main painters of this period are Bazille, Monet, Manet, Pissarro, Sisley, Degas and Renoir. Cézanne and Van Gogh are considered as impressionist painters, but the composition of their paintings and the way they used colors opened a new path for other art styles to emerge (Cubism and Fauvism). Along with Gauguin and Munch, they can be considered as the pioneers of Expressionism.
