Impressionism

In the second half of the 19th century, a new art movement was born in France: Impressionism. The artists at that time began using new techniques when painting. They did not follow the lines of a drawing. Instead, they painted a landscape, a couple of flowers or whatever they wanted to paint directly onto a canvas with oils. It was very important to paint at the right time of the day, because the amount of daylight changes all the time, depending on whether it is midday or 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Thus, they did not have time for details like the Renaissance painters. This movement needed fast and colourful painting! Some impressionist artists include Manet, Monet, Van Gogh (post-impressionism) Rodin (sculpture), Delacroix and Renoir.

The most famous impressionist in Spain was Joaquín Sorolla. This artist, born in Valencia, was very interested in representing the sea and the colour of sunsets on the beach. He has two museums: one in Valencia and another one in Madrid (I recommend it!).
The painting I like the most from this movement is "Impression, soleil levant". This painting, by Monet, was the one which gave Impressionism its name. As we can see in the picture there are a lot of brushstrokes in different colours. If we observe them very closely, we will just see a lot of colours. However, if we move away, we can appreciate all of the brushstrokes mixed together.
In conclusion, this is one of the most famous art movements of the 19th Century which teaches us that the most important thing when painting is the colour and the perspective.