Post-Impressionism is a broad term that describes the diverse range of artistic styles that emerged in France between approximately 1886 and 1905, in the wake of Impressionism. It is not a single, unified movement, but rather a collective term for the art of major figures like Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, and Georges Seurat.
These artists all built upon Impressionism's use of bright color and real-life subjects but rejected its focus on capturing fleeting, naturalistic moments. They sought to infuse their work with more emotional, structural, and symbolic content. The movement can be understood through two general trends: one, led by van Gogh and Gauguin, emphasized emotional and spiritual expression through intense, non-naturalistic color and dynamic brushwork.
The other, led by Cézanne and Seurat, sought to restore a sense of order and structure to art, with Cézanne analyzing the geometric forms underlying nature and Seurat developing the methodical color theory of Pointillism. The varied experiments of the Post-Impressionists were foundational for 20th-century art, with Cézanne's work directly leading to Cubism, and van Gogh and Gauguin's use of symbolic color paving the way for Fauvism and Expressionism.
Visuals[]
Post-Impressionist art is characterized by a use of vivid colors, geometric and distorted forms, and unnatural or arbitrary color.
Artists[]
- Charles Angrand
- Emile Bernard
- Paul Cézanne
- Henri-Edmond Cross
- Maurice Denis
- Paul Gauguin
- Maximilien Luce
- Robert Antoine Pinchon
- Odilon Redon
- Henri Rousseau
- Georges Seurat
- Vincent van Gogh
Gallery[]
