In the second half of XIXE CENTURY, a group of Parisian artists organised an independent exhibition. His works seemed unfinished, capturing fleeting moments.
Evolving partly from realism and partly from Dutch and English landscapers, the Impressionists sought to break with the domination and rigidity of official art academies. Using low-definition painting and sculpture techniques and using modern technologies, including photography, portable paintings and new synthetic colours, they produced what appeared to be spontaneous images with bright colours or, in the case of sculpture, dynamic moments. His main themes were the landscapes and scenes of everyday life, with ordinary people, but his main interest was the momentary and transient effects of light. Quick, fragmented brush strokes with small touches of color highlighted the changing atmosphere and light, and artists often painted outdoors, many adopting the alla prima technique ("first quality") of applying the paint directly in front of their subjects rather than in their workshop.

Developing new ideas based on photography, most Impressionists painted from unusual angles and used color instead of black in the shadows. As with realistic and landscape painting, the Impressionists were inspired by the painters of Barbizon's school, Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863), Japanese engraving, industrial progress, the expansion of rail transport and scientific theories on colour.

MAIN ARTISTS: CLAUDE MONET • CAMILLE PISSARRO • PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR • EDGAR DEGAS • MARY CASSATT