By the mid 1850s a new style was sweeping through the French art world.
Boudin painting of Empress Eugenie at Deauville with big sky and beach with group of women brightly dressed and two to leftEmpress Eugenie at Deauville by Boudin © Glasgow Life
By the mid 1850s a new style was sweeping through the French art world. It was influenced by artists like the Romantic colourist Eugène Delacroix; the leader of the Realists, Gustave Courbet, and painters of the Barbizon school like Johan Barthold Jongkind, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Eugène Boudin. They had all begun to paint outdoors ( en plein air) directly from nature in a spontaneous style. This group of artists befriended, advised and inspired the artists who came to define Impressionism.
Impressionist painters. Gustave Courbet Snow with snow on big bank beside snowy road and trees leaning over. Feeling of coldGustave Courbet: Snow. Public domain. Frankfurt Museum