Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that has been known as one of the greatest movements in art history. It began in Paris with some independent artists who moved away from the traditional academic style. What was considered "art" back then was a very refined, polished, and realistic style where subjects were arranged in studios. The impressionists on the other hand worked outside, drawing inspiration from nature.  This was a radical rethinking at the time, giving lots of color freely to their pieces. One of the notions a lot of art critiques would say was that the impressionists' work looked "unfinished."

This was just fine for the impressionists because their techniques incorporated small brush strokes, dashes, dots, and unmixed colors giving emphasis on the 'impression' of the piece instead of the details.