Impressionism

During the late 19th century an art movement emerged where artists were mostly working with fleeting moments and depiction of natural light with unblended rapid strokes of paints. Paris based artists held independent exhibitions during the 1870s and were strongly criticized by the conventional group of artists in France and this art style came to be known as the Impressionism movement in the Western History of Art. 

Louis Leroy, an eminent printmaker and playwright who was also a very well known art critic, reviewed the exhibitions and called them “Impressionist Exhibition” after the title of Claude Monet’s famous work- Impression Sunrise. That is how the term was coined. The core idea was to violate the rules of traditional ideas, especially the studio practice where light was all artificially captured in a painting. Impressionist artists believed in capturing the natural light exactly at the moment which involved a lot of outdoor study. This is a reason we don't see still life as a subject in Impressionist artworks. Capturing the present moment was crucial and sometimes artists went back to the same outdoor spot again and again during the same hours to complete an artwork. Unblended colors, rapid broken brushstrokes, harmony of light and movement are few characteristics of artworks created during this period of art style. Time was significantly important in creating the artworks because subjects in view were recorded in a particular time of the day. Complementary colors were mostly used for shadows instead of gray and black. Artists aimed to capture the immediate visual impressions the way it has been registered in the eye and they abandoned the technique of creating dramatic effects created later in the painting studio. Subjects did not have prominent outlines and forms and shapes were more into focus the way we perceive things in their actual outdoor conditions. 

Artists never worked in groups (many of them even denied the title Impressionist given to them) - they were mostly working individually however their approach and ideology was similar and here are a few popular names working with this style: Claude Monet, Edouard Manet, Auguste Renoir, Berthe Morisot, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt.