The textbook definition of Impressionism is "the aim to reproduce the impression which eye and mind gather, rather than
representing actual fact."
In art the Impressionistic style is characterized by the attempt an artist makes to "accurately and
objectively record visual reality in terms of transient effects of light and colour.
Impressionist paintings were created in number
between 1867 and 1886.
  The style began in France and was considered quite radical, even revolutionary. Artists by the likes of "Claude Monet, Pierre
Auguste Renior, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Berthe Morisot, Armand Guillaumin and Frederic Bazille"
all worked togther,
subsequently influencing each other. The group of artists exhibited together, independant of outside support.
  Other well known painters such as Edgar Degas and Paul Cezanne also painted in the Impressionistic style for a period in the
1870s. An interesting aspect of this style is that Impressionism is not only a technique but in a greater view, it is a state of mind.
Your state of mind affects what you see and subsequently your painting will reflect your state of mind. This is a reason why
established artists such as Edouard Manet found this style to be so fulfilling a technique.
  The influence Impressionism had was not held only in France, it spread first to Germany and then throughout Europe. Today
the effects Impressionism has had are enjoyed world wide. (Anthony Oliver)