Impressionism was a revolutionary art movement that emerged in France in the 1870s.

The Impressionists sought to capture the fleeting moment and the sensory effect of a scene, particularly the changing effects of light.

Their style was characterized by short, visible brushstrokes, an emphasis on light and color over line and form, and painting outdoors ('en plein air').

Key Impressionist artists included Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, and Camille Pissarro.

Their work was initially rejected by the official Paris Salon, forcing them to organize their own independent exhibitions.

Post-Impressionism is a term for the diverse styles that developed in the 1880s and 1890s out of Impressionism.

Post-Impressionist artists were not a unified group but shared a desire to move beyond the naturalism of Impressionism.

Vincent van Gogh used color and brushwork to express his inner emotional turmoil.

Paul Cézanne focused on the underlying geometric structure of objects, which would be highly influential on Cubism.

Georges Seurat developed the technique of Pointillism, using small dots of color to create an image.