Vincent
Van Gogh (1853-1890)
View
of Arles (Orchard in Bloom with Poplars in the Forefront)
(oil on canvas, 1890)
Neue
Pinakothek, Munich, Germany
Post
Impressionism was not a formal movement or style. The
name was derived from the title of the exhibition 'Manet
and the Post-Impressionists' which was organised in London
by the English artist and critic Roger Fry in the winter
of 1910-11.
Impressionism
was the first movement in the canon of modern art that
had a massive effect on the development of art in the
20th century. Like most revolutionary styles it was gradually
absorbed into the mainstream and its limitations became
frustrating to the succeeding generation. Artists
such as Vincent
Van Gogh, Paul
Cézanne, Paul Gauguin and Georges Seurat, although
steeped in the traditions of Impressionism, pushed the
boundaries of the style in different creative directions
and in doing so laid the foundations of art in the 20th
century. For historical convenience these artists have
been labeled as Post Impressionists but, apart from their
Impressionist influence, they don't have that much in
common.
Vincent
Van Gogh (1853-1890)
Wheatfield
with Crows
(oil on canvas, 1890)
Van
Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
When
Impressionism was filtered through the energy and anxiety
of Vincent
Van Gogh, the result pushed art towards Expressionism.
Paul
Cézanne (1839-1906)
Mont
Sainte-Victoire
(oil on canvas, 1902-04)
Philadelphia
Museum of Art
The
way that Cézanne
abstracted and structured his paintings with colour pushed
art towards Cubism.
Paul
Gauguin (1884-1903)
The
Yellow Christ
(oil
on canvas, 1889)
Albright
Knox Art Gallery
Gauguin
fused his symbolic use of colour with art from different
eras and cultures to create a highly personal and expressive
style that pushed art towards Fauvism.
Georges
Seurat (1859-1891)
The
Channel at Gravelines, Evening
(oil on canvas, 1890)
Museum
of Modern Art, New York
Seurat's
frustration with the limitations of Impressionism, particularly
its lack of accurate line and detail, drove him to develop
the technique of Pointillism or Neo-Impressionism. This
was a more scientific approach to the mixture of colour
which was applied in smaller dots of paint that blended
optically when viewed from a distance.
Seurat
would often paint outside using an Impressionistic style
to quickly capture the effects of natural light. He would
then take these 'sketches' back to his studio and rework
them using his more methodical Pointillist technique,
allowing him to take a more considered and classical approach
to composition while still retaining the vitality of Impressionist
colour.
Post
Impressionism Facts
