In the 1860s increasing numbers of artists, influenced by the Barbizon School, took their paints and canvases out into the French countyside. Painters including the Dutchman Jongkind and Boudin from Honfleur set up their easels on the popular beaches of Normandy. The slightest hint of a brushstroke and confluences of colours created atmospheric impressions. Boudin varied his beach scenes with distinct moods arising from the morning or evening sun. Above all, the ever -changings effects of light and colour on the water became a challenge that was eagerly met. Boudin’s student Monet titled an 1874 view of the harbour at Le Haver Impression, Sunrise. Henceforth, one critic began to mock the group of artists with whim Monet exhibited - and who , like Monet , were excluded from the Salon – as “impressionists.” While the painters who were part of the Salon judged a picture’s value by its motif, for the Impressionists , the picture’s colours and their relationship to each other were of supreme importance .The colour of objects can thus lose significance and fall victim to the general atmospheric impression. The application of colour in recognizable brushstroke shatters the outlines of objects, allowing them to melt into their surroundings, as if illuminated by a shimmering light. Shadows are no linger simpy darkness, but rather patches of blended colour.
