impressionism is a style of painting which began in france in the late 19th century. impressionist painting shows life-like subjects painted in a broad, rapid style, with brushstrokes that are easily seen and colours that are often bright. the term 'impressionism' comes from a painting by claude monet, which he showed in an exhibition with the name "impression, soleil levant" ("impression, sunrise"). an art critic called louis leroy saw the exhibition and wrote a review in which he said that all the paintings were just "impressions".