What is Impressionist Art?

• Impressionism was a new style of art that began in France in the late 1800s.
• Before Impressionism, artists liked to paint things as close to how they looked as possible. Remember: photography was very very new. If you wanted a picture of something, it would be painted!
• Impressionists wanted to capture 'the impression' of a moment in time. They didn't care about it looking perfect.
• Impressionists would paint using short brush strokes. This effect is called 'tache' and it is used to give the idea of a subject rather than an accurate image of it.
• Impressionists studied the effects of light, for example, bright sunshine, evening light, twilight. Often they would paint the same thing but at different times of day.
• The artists liked to capture their images without detail but with bold colors.
• Importantly, the artists preferred to paint outside rather than inside studios as had always been done before.