Art wall "sunrise" by claude monet 14x18 gallery wrapped canvas. impression, sunrise (impression, soleil levant) is a painting by claude monet. it gave rise to the name of the impressionist movement. dated 1872, its subject is the harbor of le havre in france, using very loose brush strokes that suggest rather than delineate it. monet explained the title later: "landscape is nothing but an impression and an instantaneous one, hence this label that was given us, by the way because of me. i had sent a thing done in le havre, from my window, sun in the mist and a few masts of boats sticking up in the foreground. they asked me for a title for the catalogue, it couldn"t really be taken for a view of le havre and i said: put impression". it was displayed in 1874 during the first independent art show of the impressionists (who were not yet known by that name). critic louis leroy, inspired by the painting"s name, titled his hostile review of the show in le charivari newspaper, "the exhibition.