The term “impressionism” was first coined to describe works that appeared sketchy and unfinished. Impressionists rejected the highly finished surfaces of academic painting of the time to create a visual language of bright, rapidly applied color to capture light and atmosphere. Impressionist painters developed a way of applying pigment that has been called “broken color” or “broken brushstrokes.” The paint is applied in mosaic-like patches which creates a rough irregular surface texture. In this work by Childe Hassam, the painter fragments color into small units of flickering touches. For example, Hassam uses this microstructure of small strokes of color to depict the beauty of the chromatic vibrations found overlooking the marshes of a tidal river. He varies the size of his strokes to create a sense of movement and depth as the eye moves about the canvas.