It seems in every period of time, I have found a favorite artist.  If we talk about the Rennaissance, I feel nobody can beat the brush stroke of  Botticelli. But Tomaso Masaccio taught me how to paint.  He is the first artist to bring composition into art.  Before him, Jesus was flying on the wall.  Massacio with his composition introduced perspective and visibility and suddenly Adam and Eve are walking on the ground.  That said, here are a few of my favorite artists.  Many of them are impressionists.
1. Renato Guttuso – Contemporary Artist of Sicily
2. Telemaco Signorini -  Macchiaiolo of Florence (Impressionist) He is largely unknown to the world but he was an inspiring master.  He also wore a very tall hat. 
3. Claude Monet- French Impressionist  He wanted to see the world with a different eye.  At least that is what he said.
4. George Saurat- French Impressionist  Everyone used to say, “Oh, that student of Pissarro.”  He got so upset he wrote a letter to Pissarro saying, “I am not your student, I am George Saurat and I did something that nobody did.”  Che fegato!
5. Of course, you can’t skip Van Gogh.  People say he was crazy, but he was a true artist.  Ok, maybe he was also crazy.  But he was Van Gogh.
6. Winslow Homer- New World.  If he was French, he would have been considered the greatest impressionist of all times.  He beat Monet, Pissarro, and all of them with his subjects, quality and brush strokes.  America didn’t trust him and so today he’s not credited with what he deserves.  I’ll argue that he was the first Impressionist.  Ten years before Monet he painted  ‘The Sharpshooter on Picket Duty’ which has definite impressionist strokes that are not blended.
7. William Turner.   Of course if it was not for William Turner, the artistic genius, I wonder how far landscape painting and impressionism itself would have gone today.  Even though he’s considered a romantic artist, if you look at his paintings he is an obvious impressionist and I’d venture to guess that he inspired Monet.