What is impressionism? Impressionism is a style of painting that originated in France during the 1860’s. Impressionist artists, defined by Tate, were characterized by this: “…impressionist artists were not trying to paint a reflection of real life, but an ‘impression’ of what the person, light, atmosphere, object or landscape looked like to them…They tried to capture the movement and life of what they saw and show it to us as if it were happening before our eyes.” Here are a few of the most talented female impressionist artists of the 1800’s.