This book celebrates the richness and exuberance of the Impressionists' world--a world of light and color, of sunlit fields and shimmering waterscapes, of bustling city views and intimate domestic scenes. Contains more than 400 illustrations, over 200 in full color, with sixteen fold-out color spreads. In the text, art historian Diane Kelder traces the development of Impressionism from its roots in landscape and Realist painting through its focus on modern urban life to its ultimate goal: to fix on canvas the fleeting moods and effects of nature in a world that stands still for no one. The author examines the lives and works of all the major Impressonists, including Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Seurat, and Cézanne, and shows how their work influenced others in the movement, ultimately giving rise to the new art of the twentieth century.--From publisher description.