Impressionism was a 19th century art movement that began as a loose association of Paris-based artists, who began exhibiting their art publicly in the 1860s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressionism

Impressionist Art. The Definition. Impressionist art is a style in which the artist captures the image of an object as someone would see it if they just caught a glimpse of it.
http://longwood.cs.ucf.edu/%7EMidLink/Impress.html

noun . 1. Fine Arts.
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=impressionism&r ...

The impressionist style of painting is characterized chiefly by concentration on the general impression produced by a scene or object and the use of unmixed primary colors and ...
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/glo/impressionism/

What is Impressionism? The Impressionist style of painting developed in the late nineteenth century in France. Although the Impressionist movement did not exclusively consist of ...
http://www.uncg.edu/rom/courses/common/impressionism.htm