One morning, one of us, lacking black, used blue, impressionism was born.
Auguste Renoir.
that emerged in France in the last quarter of the 19th century. It is most often expressed in landscape paintings and scenes of modern life, which emphasise visual sensation and the instantaneous expression of light effects.
Initially unwelcome by institutions and critics - apart from a few writers, such as Émile Zola - the early masters of Impressionism formed a "Société Anonyme" and organised eight exhibitions (1874-1886). When public success was achieved at the end of the 1880s, Impressionism experienced a major boom in foreign painting schools.
Later, the various artistic trends that emerged directly or indirectly from Impressionism in the last years of the 19th century were grouped together under the term "Post-Impressionism". The term is disputed: it should be distinguished from "neo-Impressionism", which is used to designate the direct descendants of Impressionism through the interpretation of the painters Georges Seurat and Paul Signac.
Impressionism is also the model of a sensibility based on memory and intimate resonance. It is thus the foundation of an aesthetic: we speak of impressionism in music.
Source : Larousse
Photo : Britannica