c. 1860s–1920s
Dates overlap and vary by place; they are not strict boundaries.
Movement
A movement, period and school are different kinds of historical grouping.
Associations are checked against museum records rather than assigned from dates alone.
Why it emerged
Rebuilt Paris, expanding railways and new leisure spaces changed modern experience. In 1874, artists organised an independent exhibition outside the official Salon system. Portable paint and new pigments helped outdoor experiments, but their central challenge was artistic and institutional: how could changing light and contemporary life become serious painting?
Key artists and contributions
Claude Monet
Studied shifting light and atmosphere, later comparing repeated views in series.
Berthe Morisot
Used open brushwork to explore domestic life and the spaces available to bourgeois women.
Edgar Degas
Experimented with cropping, viewpoints and movement in carefully constructed modern scenes.
Mary Cassatt
Made women’s social and intimate lives central to innovative paintings and prints.
What changed afterwards
Independent exhibitions helped artists challenge official gatekeeping. Later painters adapted its colour and visible brushwork, while Post-Impressionist approaches questioned whether transient sensation alone could provide structure or meaning.
Sources and further reading
Original educational overview, informed by the resources below. Artist examples are selective; they are not a complete membership list.
Works in this collection
↗Romaine Lacaux
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
↗Spring Flowers
Claude Monet
↗The Red Kerchief
Claude Monet
↗The Lock at Pontoise
Camille Pissarro
↗Reading
Berthe Morisot
↗Paul Lafond and Alphonse Cherfils Examining a Painting
Edgar Degas
↗The Mender
Camille Pissarro
↗Mademoiselle Louise Riesener in a Hat
Berthe Morisot
↗Edge of the Woods Near L'Hermitage, Pontoise
Camille Pissarro
↗Laundress and Her Child (Aline and Pierre)
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
↗Low Tide at Pourville, near Dieppe, 1882
Claude Monet
↗Estérel Village
Edgar Degas
↗Gardener's House at Antibes
Claude Monet
↗Young Saint John
Berthe Morisot
↗Frieze of Dancers
Edgar Degas
↗After the Bath
Mary Cassatt
↗Young Woman Arranging Her Earring
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
↗Water Lilies (Agapanthus)
Claude Monet
Movement and school labels are interpretive tools. Individual works can cross boundaries, and an artist’s entire career is not assigned to a single movement.