Claude Monet, Impression, soleil levant, 1872,
oil on canvas, 48x63cm, Paris, Musée Marmottan Monet.
Source : Paris 16, 2008, via Wikicommons
license : public domain
Impressionism is a pictorial movement that emerged in the 1860s. Impressionist works are characterized by their depiction of movement, color and bright light. To carry out this pictorial research, the artists favored landscape painting and scenes of contemporary life. In their paintings, it's the artist's touch and the effects of the pictorial material that create the forms, rather than the drawings.
To create, many artists moved away from the cities, which were too affected by industrialization, to natural sites. Among these places, Le Havre is often considered the birthplace of Impressionist painters, inspired by its port and regattas. It was here that Monet painted his famous Impression, soleil levant in 1872. Normandy is also the birthplace of famous Impressionist painters such as William Turner and Claude Monet, who found numerous subjects for their paintings here.