Impressionist

Refers to the movement in 19th-century Western art that developed in France and rejected traditional academic teaching and attempted to use science regarding the physics of color to achieve exact representations of color, tone, and light. Impressionist art is characterized by the use of small touches of pure color, painting out-of-doors in order to catch the essence of a fleeting time of day, and an objective depiction of contemporary life.

Impressionists rejected the system of state-controlled academies and salons in favor of independent exhibitions, the first of which was held in 1874. They painted contemporary landscapes and scenes of modern life, especially of bourgeois leisure and recreation.... Interested in capturing transitory moments, the Impressionists paid attention to the fleeting effect of light, atmosphere and movement.