Post-Impressionism

Post-Impressionism, a term embracing the various styles of painting that succeeded Impressionism, particularly in France, between about 1880 and 1905. It was coined by the British critic Roger Fry in 1910, in connection with an exhibition of paintings by Cézanne, Gauguin, and van Gogh held in London that year. Besides these three painters, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Georges Seurat are also considered to be major members of the school.

Although the Post-Impressionists based their styles of painting on the use of colour developed by the Impressionists, they reacted against Impressionism's desire to reflect accurately nature through colour and depict the effects of light. Instead, the Post-Impressionists presented a subjective view of the world. Seurat, whose style remained the closest to that of the Impressionists, used paint in tiny dots of pure colour, which when viewed from a sufficient distance, appeared to blend, thus forming blocks of colour and shadow. The style was known as Pointillism, and a fine example is Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884-1886, Chicago Art Institute).

The work of Cézanne, Gauguin, and van Gogh, however, is characterized by a more freely expressive use of colour and form. Cézanne was more interested in rendering in paint the structural qualities of a subject rather than in copying nature. He painted still lifes and landscapes in a manner that emphasized volume and the relationship between surfaces, as in Pines and Rocks (1895-1898, Museum of Modern Art, New York). His emphasis on the geometric forms and prismatic light inherent in the perception of nature anticipate Cubism.

Gauguin, in an attempt to capture the pictorial boldness of folk art, was concerned with developing flat, decorative surface patterns, as in Cavalry (1889, Palais des Beax-Arts, Brussels). Van Gogh depicted nature in vivid, often strident colours that evoke strong emotions. His subjective approach, exemplified by Starry Night (1889, Museum of Modern Art), presaged Expressionism. Toulouse-Lautrec was strongly influenced by the linear compositions of Japanese prints, and his work is characterized by strong outlines and flat patterns of colour.

Other movements in 20th-century art, such as Surrealism and Futurism, as well as Cubism, Expressionism, and Fauvism, are referred to as Post-Impressionist because they developed as a result partly of the freedom achieved for the artist by Impressionism and partly of a new emphasis upon abstract concepts in art. In the latter sense the 20th-century art movements reflect notably new approaches to the interpretation of the perceived world pioneered by Cézanne, Gauguin, and van Gogh.