FRENCH IMPRESSIONISM The impressionists celebrated light and its effects, seeking to capture pure visual sensation. This was realized through such techniques as "pointillism" (tiny flecks of paint, esp. Seurát), painting of subjects at different times of day or different seasons (esp. Monet), the use of vigorous brushwork with bright colors, and the adoption of the new attitude of "art for art's sake". The impressionists often painted outdoors to capture the effects of light ("plein-aire"), while painting scenes of modern contemporary life. It has been suggested that with the invention of photography in the 1800s, painting was forced to seek a new direction, away from the strictly representational and realistic manner of reproducing the world, to a more subjective, and personal way by the artist, as he reacted to the effects of light. Of this, no camera was capable. Started in France by a group of avant-garde artists, Impressionism has now become the most beloved and sought after of all art styles. Of the early French impressionists, Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), together with Claude Monet (the movement's two principle founders), are perhaps the best known and most highly regarded today.