Impressionism

Impressionism is a famous style of painting from France. It began in the 1860s. Impressionist artists painted quickly with short brush strokes. They wanted to show how light and color look in real life. Their paintings are soft and dreamy.

How Impressionism Started

A group of French artists started impressionism about 150 years ago. At first, many people did not like their new style. They thought the paintings looked unfinished. The name 'impressionism' came from a painting by Claude Monet called 'Impression, Sunrise'. Now these paintings are worth millions of dollars.

A soft painting of an orange sun rising over a misty harbor.
A soft painting of an orange sun rising over a misty harbor. (Claude Monet / Wikimedia Commons)

Famous Impressionist Artists

Claude Monet was the most famous impressionist painter. He loved painting gardens, water lilies, and haystacks. Other great impressionists were Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas. Degas loved to paint ballet dancers. These artists often painted outdoors to capture sunlight.

Fun Facts

  • Claude Monet painted his garden and water lilies hundreds of times.
  • The first impressionist art show was held in 1874 in Paris.
  • Impressionist paintings often sell for over 100 million dollars today.

Did You Know?

Impressionist artists were some of the first painters to take their paints outside and paint what they saw in nature.