Glossary Term: Impressionism
The name Impressionism comes from Claude Monet's painting Impression: Sunrise, which was shown at an exhibition in 1874. A critic used the word to make fun of all the works in the show, but the artists later adopted the word to describe themselves.

Impressionist artists tried to capture an immediate impression of what the eye sees at a single glance, rather than what the viewer knows or feels about the work. They were very interested in how light appeared on subjects in different weather and at different times of the day, an interest that can be traced back to Realism. They preferred to work outdoors in natural light, rather than in their studio with sketches. Their art tends to have brilliant colors that almost shimmer in their intensity.

Critics of impressionism complained that the artists had not followed the traditional rules of composition. But the Impressionists favored subjects that appeared informal and spontaneous. They liked their paintings to reflect the life they saw around them; rural scenes, city life and people dressed in everyday clothing going about their business. The sketchiness of this style, with its quick, visible brushstrokes, made critics complain that the pictures did not look finished, that the work was sloppy. Impressionists replied that their work was not just a window to view a certain subject, but that the viewer could become aware of the painting as an object in itself. In this way, it paved the way for abstract art.

Some important Impressionists were Claude Monet, Mary Cassatt, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet and Berthe Morisot.

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