Resumen: Impressionism, which is one of the most brillant achievements in the history of art, is not only the unfolding and blossoming of Frech painting in the second half of the nineteenth century; it also expresses certain general hopes and aspirations which find in it their true expression.
If one wants to recreate the complex milieu of the nineteenth-century world of the arts and to trace the influences and trends in France and elsewhere which were reflected in the work of impressionist painters, it is necessary to consider the seeds of impressionism and the aftermath as reflected in new movements in art after the turn of the century.