This volume celebrates the richness and exuberance of the impressionists' world - a world of light and colour, of bustling city views and intimate domestic scenes. It contains 400 illustrations - over half in full colour - capturing the subtle nuances of light and keen perception that make the French impressionist paintings unique. 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 in detail the lives and works of all the major impressionists and post-impressionists, including Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Seurat and Cezanne, and shows how their work influenced others in the movement, ultimately giving rise to the new art of the 20th century. There are anecdotes with excerpts from contemporary essays and letters.