The Impressionist Masters

Considered the rebels and radicals of their day, the early Impressionist painters violated the rules of conventional, hyperrealistic painting. Most prominent in France in the late 1800's, the Impressionist movement is defined by an open composition and small but deliberate brush strokes that are designed to depict the way light changes and falls, especially with the passage of time. The term "Impressionism" was coined by art critic Louis Leroy in response to Claude Monet's work, Impression, Soleil Levant, as it was the piece that largely inspired the movement.