Impressionism rose in 19th century France in opposition to the Neo-Classicism of the French Academicians. Taking its name from Monet's 1872 Impression, the beginnings of the movement can be seen in the Salon des Refuses of 1863 which was organized to show works that had been refused by the Salon de Paris that year. 

Repeated requests for another Salon des Refuses were declined and so the artists themselves exhibited together in 1874.  It was then that critics first applied the term "Impressionist" to the works in general and the name became popular with the public. 

Impressionist art is characterized by representations of the ordinary and the contemporary, on various lights within a work and indications of movement within the painting.   The principles of Impressionism soon crossed national frontiers and influenced the works of James McNeill Whistler and John Singer Sargent in America, Joaquin Sorolloa in Spain, and William McTaggart in Scotland.