Impressionism

Impressionism emerged in 1860s Paris when a group of artists rejected the rigid rules of the French Academy. Instead of working in studios, they painted outdoors (plein air), capturing how light fell on haystacks, water lilies, and Parisian boulevards at specific moments. Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Edgar Degas became the movement's leading figures.

The name "Impressionism" was coined as an insult. When Monet exhibited Impression, Sunrise in 1874, critics mocked the loose brushwork and unfinished appearance. But what critics dismissed as sloppiness was actually radical technique: visible brushstrokes, pure colors placed side by side, and shadows rendered in blue and purple rather than brown or black.

The Impressionists painted modern life: cafes, railway stations, ballet dancers, boating parties. They captured movement and atmosphere rather than static poses. Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt brought domestic scenes and women's perspectives to the movement. Today, Impressionist paintings rank among the world's most beloved and valuable artworks, displayed in major museums from the Musée d'Orsay to the Art Institute of Chicago.