Impression, Sunrise

In 1872, Claude Monet created a painting, as the most famous part of a 6 canvas series, that would later be known as revolutionary artwork for the Impressionist Art movement.  That painting is called Impression, soleil levant, also known as Impression, Sunrise.  Besides being the most artistically important of the series of pieces, that show the same scene but at different times of day and views, this painting is also probably Monet's most famous work of all his paintings.

With the word "Impression" in it's title, it became the description of what Impressionist painters were trying to achieve with their art.  The name Impressionism was born from this title and Impressionist Art thus had a foundation for it's movement.  As the subject for this artwork, Monet painted an industrial port in the French northern coast called Le Havre. 

Monet, Impression, soleil levant, 1872

Le Havre was a center of commerce for the country and Monet  may have chosen this port scene as his subject in order to promote a patriotic ode to the renewal of France that was just recovering from defeat in the Franco-Prussian war, of the early 1870's.      

At first most art critics did not think this piece was worthy of note but an important review by Louis Leroy, for the Exposition of 1874, changed that view.  Leroy introduced the term impression, taken from the title of the work, to describe the style of Monet's work and this introduction changed the importance of the painting for history.  The term was not only meant to describe the style of the movement but was also a kind of satirical deprecation of the art form as well.  Despite the disparagement,  Impression, Sunrise initiated and named this movement of art and has become the encapsulation of it's style as well.

Catalogue for the Impressionist Exhibition in 1874

References:   

The J. Paul Getty Museum

Wikipedia 

Longwood University, "Analysis of Claude Monet's Impression, Sunrise", by Jamie Yurasits