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Portrait photograph of the French impressionist painter Claude Monet Photo sourced from

10 Most Influential Impressionist Painters and Their Work 

Impressionism is a style of art that was developed by some of the best painters in the world and is perhaps the most important movement in the whole of modern painting. This often meant using much lighter and looser brushwork than painters had up until that point and painting out of doors.

The Impressionists sought to capture the former to convey the fleeting nature of the present moment, including ambient features. Getting away from depictions of idealized forms and perfect symmetry, they concentrated on the world as they saw it. Let’s take a look at some of the most influential impressionist painters and their work;

1. Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Portrait photograph of the French impressionist painter Claude Monet Photo sourced from

Claude Monet born on 14th November 1840 and died on 5th December 1926 was a French painter and founder of the impressionist painting style. Monet was one of the key precursors to modernism and one of the best artists of his time.

 He was also one of the most consistent and prolific practitioners of impressionism’s philosophy of expressing one’s perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plain-air landscape painting. Some of his most famous works include; Sunrise, A woman with Parasol, Water Lilies, Women in the Garden, and The Water Lily Pond.

Read more about him in 15 Facts You Should Know About Claude Monet

2. Edouard Manet (1832 – 1883)

Edouard Manet born on 23rd January 1832 and died on 30th April 1883 was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. He is often perceived as the father of impressions for his contributions to modern art.

Edouard Manet was an influential painter who left his unique mark on the art world because of his radical painting style and modern subject matter which highly influenced the work of the Impressionists. Some of his most famous works include; The Luncheon on the Grass, Olympia, Bullfight, and the Balcony.

3. Pierre-August Renoir (1841- 1919)

A portrait of Pierre-Auguste Renoir Photo sourced from

Pierre-Auguste Renoir born on 25th February 1841 and died on 3rd December 1919 was a French Impressionist painter whose eye for beauty made him one of the movement’s most popular practitioners. He is best known for his paintings of bustling Â鶹APPian modernity and leisure in the last three decades of the 19th century.

He had a preference for nudes and children, but although the subjects varied over the years, he almost always presents a colorful and carefree view of the world. Some of his most famous works include; Two sisters (on the terraces), The Umbrellas, and The Large Bathers.

Read more about him here

4. Gustave Caillebotte (1848 – 1894)

Gustave Caillebotte born on 19th August 1848 and died on  21st February 1894 was a French painter who was a member and patron of the Impressionists, although he painted in a more realistic way than many other top painters in this group.

Caillebotte was known for his early interest in photography as an art form. He however tended to use brighter colors and heavier brushwork in his later works. Some of his most famous paintings include; The Floor Scrapers in 1875’ and ‘Â鶹APP Street, Rainy Day’ in 1877.

5. Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)

A photo of Berthe Morisot Photo sourced from

Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot born January 14, 1841 – March 2, 1895, was a painter and a member of the circle of painters in Â鶹APP who became known as the Impressionists. She is one of the most known female impressionist artists on our list.

She made several works throughout her career some of which have since earned a fortune. Some of her most famous works include; The Old Track to Auver, The Cradle, After Luncheon, Child in the Rose Garden, Woman and Child in a Garden, Julie Daydreaming, and Young Woman Leaning on Her Elbows.

Read more about her in 20 Famous Women Artists who were Better Than Men

6. Camille Pissaro (1830-1903)

Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro born on  10th July 1830 and died on 13 November 1903 was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter. He is famous for his contributions to both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism and is one of the most famous artists from France.

His most famous paintings include; The Boulevard Montmartre at Night, Eragny, The Boulevard Montmartre on a Winter Morning, hoarfrost, Self-portrait, The Old Ennery Road in Pontoise, Jeanne holding a Fan, and many more.

7. Marie Bracquemond (1840 – 1916)

Marie Bracquemond born on 1st December 1840 and died on 17th January 1916 was a French Impressionist artist. She was one of four notable women in the Impressionist movement. She is mostly known for her outdoor portraits such as Sur la terrasse à Sèvres (1880).

She was also considered one of three great ladies of Impressionism, alongside Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt. Her most famous paintings include; On the Terrace at Sèvres, The Lady in White, Under the Lamp, Afternoon Tea, and Self Portrait.

8. Edgar Degas (1834 – 1917)

A sel-portrait of Edgar Degas Photo sourced from

Edgar Degas born on 19th July 1834 and died on 27th  September 1917 was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. He is also mostly identified with the subject of dance because most of his works are about dancers.

Degas is perhaps best known for painting ballet dancers who he was fascinated by and wanted to capture their grace and power. His most famous works include; In a Café, The Ballet Class, The Bellelli Family, A Cotton Office in New Orleans, Ballet Rehearsal, and The Dancing Class.

Read more about him 10 Remarkable Facts about Edgar Degas

9. Mary Cassatt (1844-1926)

Mary Stevenson Cassatt born on May 22, 1844, and died on June 14, 1926, was an American painter and printmaker who often created images of the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the intimate bonds between mothers and children.

She is famously known for her perceptive depictions of women and children and was one of the few American artists active in the nineteenth-century French avant-garde. Some of her most famous works include; The Child’s Bath (1893), Mother and Child before a Pool (1898), and Woman with a Pearl Necklace in a Loge (1879).

10. Frédéric Bazille (1841 – 1870)

Portrait of Frédéric Bazille by Etienne Carjat Photo sourced from

Jean Frédéric Bazille born on December 6, 1841, and died on November 28, 1870, was a French Impressionist painter. He was one of the benefactors of the Impressionist movement and a promising artist himself and is recognized as one of the best artists who showed great promise though died before he could fulfill his promise.

He is one of the first people to paint outside and contributed to the movement though he died early. His most famous works include The Pink Dress (1864), Family Reunion (1867), and Studio in Rue de La Condamine(1870), in which he depicts himself surrounded by friends including Manet and Renoir.