What was impressionism? what were similarities between all the paintings that united this art movement?

Question

the actual question igot was-

what were all impressionists concerned with in their paintings that held them together

Answer 1

All the Impressionists were concerned with producing a general impression of an object or scene as they saw it at a certain moment in time (e.g. Monet painted the same view of Rouen Cathedral at different times of the day and in different weathers, see below). They all employed unmixed primary colors and small brushstrokes to simulate the appearance of actual reflected light. (e.g. study the light effects in the land and seascapes of Renoir, see below).So what held this group together was their attempts to objectively (not getting emotionally involved in the subject they were painting) record visual reality in terms of transient effects of light and colour. Also, they liked to paint "en plein air" (outside) directly in front of the scene, rather than in their studios.

Read about the movement at http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/glo/impr...

Answer 2

I this is a style of painting where painter paints in general landscapes with bold stoke or paint dabs or any particular style. By this style it is not a a detailed paintings but viewer can get clear idea about subject.