What was the essence of impressionism?
Centered in France, 1860’s to 1880’s, Impressionism is a light, spontaneous manner of painting which began in France as a reaction against the formalism of the dominant Academic style. Its naturalistic and down-to-earth treatment of its subjects has its roots in the French Realism of Corot and others. The movement’s name came from Monet’s early work, Impression: Sunrise, which was singled out for criticism by Louis Leroy on its exhibition. The hallmark of the style is the attempt to capture the subjective impression of light in a scene. (source http://www.artcyclopedia.com/history/impressionism.
