What is Impressionism

im·pres·sion·ism

Claude Monet piece's above titled Sunrise is the beginning of impressionism. 1874, Journalists making fun of it and use the same word (impressionism) to mock it. Artists took the very same name to describe them.

Impressionist art is a style in which the artist captures the image of an object as someone would see it if they just caught a glimpse of it. Sometimes the work appears to be slightly out of focus.
Impressionist art is best viewed from a distance, to allow the characteristic broken, dotted or flickering brush work - so effective in capturing the quality of light - to merge into a cohesive image.

Artists attempt to capture impressions of a scene, or the emotions a scene created in them.....painting in new style; wasn't highly finished nor realistic. Subjects were neither classical nor historical.

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

Manet prefered to paint everyday objects. Pissaro and Sisley painted the French countryside and river scenes. Degas enjoyed painting ballet dancers and horse races. Morisot painted women doing everyday things. Renoir loved to show the effect of sunlight on flowers and figures. Monet was interested in subtle changes in the atmosphere.