IMPRESSIONISM

Impressionism Although the Impressionist movement was not exclusively made up of French people, it did start in France. The French Revolution of 1789 brought world-wide class upheaval, but it took place in France first. This pre-eminence in social progression meant that societal arts were to develop with greater speed and diversity there then in other European countries. While England's staggering production levels in newly established factories were sufficient for it to be labeled the "production capital …

…ntries. It was the restrictive nature of these judges that prompted Monet et. al. to exhibit their works separately in the studio of the photographer, Nadar. This exhibition, held in 1874, included Monet's famous Impression: Sunrise which is generally thought to have prompted the naming of the whole genre. Subsequent exhibitions were to prove less impressive, but the work had been done and the group's paintings were subsequently to be considered those of the Impressionists.