Question

What was the aim of the impressionist painters

Answer 1

Impressionism as a art movement originated in the 19th century in Paris and London as a response to realism. The qualities of the impressionist painting is the use of light, unusual angles and the 'impression' of the event, people or landscape that the artist translates to the picture. Painters such as Dega, Mane, Mone and others wanted to depict the 'universal moment' the 'passing of time' and the beauty of their impressions. They wanted to frieze the moment in time and the human experience. Often motives of these paintings are dusk, dawn, gatherings, streets etc.

Answer 2

Instead of showing life "as it really was," they wanted to show their impression of a subject or moment in time.