A reaction to the Realist movement. Impressionism was seen as a movement toward independence from the Salon. Impressionism can be charactarized by the use of visible brushstrokes, ordinary subject matter without an attempt at being political, and the use as art to capture a fleeting moment that may never be seen in that way again. Impressionist art looks at the impression that the artist has of the external world.

Examples of Impressionist artists include Claude Monet, Pierre-August Renoir, Mary Cassat, Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse, and Paul Cezane.

While Post-Impressionists sometimes use similar techniques as Impressionists, their impression of the world is quite different. Post-Impressionists look more at the expression of the outside world through the internal psychology of the individual. Their work often has emotional meaning behind it and is a visual representation of how the artist feels about the world around them. The Post-Impressionists are a more diverse group in that they come from different backgrounds and artistic education. This can be seen in their work.

Famous examples of Post-Impressionist artists are Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, George Suerat and Paul Gauguin. Other important artists of the modern art movements that followed such as Cubist artist Pablo Picasso got their start in the Post-Impressionist movement.