American ImpressionismThe impressionists created revolutionary
paintings by using a new technique of visible brushwork and
vibrant colors. They strived to capture fleeting moments, to
depict light, and to express the rapidly changing modern society
in which they lived, often with a focus on leisure activities.
Impressionism reached the United States shortly after it began
in Paris in 1874, but the movement continued to flourish here
into the early part of the twentieth century. As America’s
cities erupted in population and industry, the energetic style
of Impressionism became the perfect mode for artists to express
the new world around them. Known as The Ten, the group of
artists that worked to establish American Impressionism included
Frank Weston Benson, William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam,
Willard Leroy Metcalf, and John Henry Twachtman.