If anyone led Impressionism during the 1860s and early 1870s, it was surely Jongkind.
Courbet
Apart from his early years as a somewhat atypical member of the Macchiaioli, Boldini remained on the periphery of those other movements and kept his distinctive style as the Master of Swish.
There are several uncanny parallels with the Impressionists, including the importance of the tache and plein air painting, early critical hostility followed later by acceptance, and of course the tragic deaths of Sernesi and Bazille in war.
This book looks at the type of painting which was central to Impressionism – the plein air landscape – and traces its development from inception by Desportes in the latter years of the seventeenth century, through the Barbizon School, to its peak in the late nineteenth century.
The Eclectic Light Company 