American Impressionism
About
French Impressionism inspired various American painters studying abroad in Paris in the 1870s, resulting in the development of a particular type of American Impressionism during the 1880s. While both French and American Impressionism employed loose brushwork to depict scenes of urban life and situations bathed in ethereal light, American Impressionists—like William Merritt Chase, Willard Metcalf, John Henry Twachtman, and Childe Hassam—uniquely turned to the pastoral landscapes of New England, where artists established enclaves away from the increasingly industrialized city centers. American expatriate artists Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent were early champions of Impressionism in Paris, their achievements in the late 1870s playing a key role in popularizing the style in the U.S.
