Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French

art movement An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defin ...

that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...

exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction against Impressionists' concern for the naturalistic depiction of light and colour. Its broad emphasis on abstract qualities or symbolic content means Post-Impressionism encompasses Les Nabis,

Neo-Impressionism Neo-Impressionism is a term coined by French art critic Félix Fénéon in 1886 to describe an art movement founded by Georges Seurat. Seurat's most renowned masterpiece, ''A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte'', marked the begi ...

, Symbolism, Cloisonnism, the Pont-Aven School, and Synthetism, along with some later Impressionists' work. The movement's principal artists were

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

(known as the father of Post-Impressionism),

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

and Georges Seurat. The term Post-Impressionism was first used by art critic Roger Fry in 1906.Peter Morrin, Judith Zilczer, William C. Agee, ''The Advent of Modernism. Post-Impressionism and North American Art, 1900-1918'', High Museum of Art, 1986 Critic Frank Rutter in a review of the

Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The ...

published in ''Art News'', 15 October 1910, described Othon Friesz as a "post-impressionist leader"; there was also an advert for the show ''The Post-Impressionists of France''.Bullen, J. B. ''Post-impressionists in England'', p.37. Routledge, 1988. , Three weeks later, Roger Fry used the term again when he organised the 1910 exhibition ''Manet and the Post-Impressionists'', defining it as the development of French art since Manet. Post-Impressionists extended

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passa ...

while rejecting its limitations: they continued using vivid colours, sometimes using impasto (thick application of paint) and painting from life, but were more inclined to emphasize geometric forms, distort form for expressive effect, and use unnatural or modified colour.

Overview

The Post-Impressionists were dissatisfied with what they felt was the triviality of subject matter and the loss of structure in Impressionist paintings, though they did not agree on the way forward. Georges Seurat and his followers concerned themselves with pointillism, the systematic use of tiny dots of colour.

set out to restore a sense of order and structure to painting, to "make of Impressionism something solid and durable, like the art of the museums". He achieved this by reducing objects to their basic shapes while retaining the saturated colours of Impressionism. The Impressionist Camille Pissarro experimented with Neo-Impressionist ideas between the mid-1880s and the early 1890s. Discontented with what he referred to as romantic Impressionism, he investigated pointillism, which he called scientific Impressionism, before returning to a purer

in the last decade of his life.

often used vibrant colour and conspicuous brushstrokes to convey his feelings and his state of mind. Although they often exhibited together, Post-Impressionist artists were not in agreement concerning a cohesive movement. Yet, the abstract concerns of harmony and structural arrangement, in the work of all these artists, took precedence over naturalism. Artists such as Seurat adopted a meticulously scientific approach to colour and composition.

Defining Post-Impressionism

The term was used in 1906, and again in 1910 by Roger Fry in the title of an exhibition of modern French painters: ''Manet and the Post-Impressionists'', organized by Fry for the

Grafton Galleries The Grafton Galleries, often referred to as the Grafton Gallery, was an art gallery in Mayfair, London. The French art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel showed the first major exhibition in Britain of Impressionist paintings there in 1905. Roger Fry's ...

in London. Three weeks before Fry's show, art critic Frank Rutter had put the term ''Post-Impressionist'' in print in ''Art News'' of 15 October 1910, during a review of the

, where he described Othon Friesz as a "post-impressionist leader"; there was also an advert in the journal for the show ''The Post-Impressionists of France''. Most of the artists in Fry's exhibition were younger than the Impressionists. Fry later explained: "For purposes of convenience, it was necessary to give these artists a name, and I chose, as being the vaguest and most non-committal, the name of Post-Impressionism. This merely stated their position in time relatively to the Impressionist movement." John Rewald limited the scope to the years between 1886 and 1892 in his pioneering publication on ''Post-Impressionism: From Van Gogh to Gauguin'' (1956). Rewald considered this a continuation of his 1946 study, ''History of Impressionism'', and pointed out that a "subsequent volume dedicated to the second half of the post-impressionist period":Rewald, John: ''Post-Impressionism: From Van Gogh to Gauguin'', revised edition: Secker & Warburg, London, 1978, p. 9. ''Post-Impressionism: From Gauguin to Matisse'', was to follow. This volume would extend the period covered to other artistic movements derived from Impressionism, though confined to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rewald focused on such outstanding early Post-Impressionists active in France as

van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fro ...

, Seurat, and Redon. He explored their relationships as well as the artistic circles they frequented (or were in opposition to), including: *

: ridiculed by contemporary art critics as well as artists as Pointillism; Seurat and Signac would have preferred other terms: Divisionism for example * Cloisonnism: a short-lived term introduced in 1888 by the art critic Édouard Dujardin, was to promote the work of Louis Anquetin, and was later also applied to contemporary works of his friend Émile Bernard * Synthetism: another short-lived term coined in 1889 to distinguish recent works of Gauguin and Bernard from that of more traditional Impressionists exhibiting with them at the Café Volpini. * Pont-Aven School: implying little more than that the artists involved had been working for a while in Pont-Aven or elsewhere in Brittany. * Symbolism: a term highly welcomed by vanguard critics in 1891, when Gauguin dropped Synthetism as soon as he was acclaimed to be the leader of Symbolism in painting. Furthermore, in his introduction to Post-Impressionism, Rewald opted for a second volume featuring Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri Rousseau "le Douanier", Les Nabis and Cézanne as well as the Fauves, the young Picasso and Gauguin's last trip to the South Seas; it was to expand the period covered at least into the first decade of the 20th century—yet this second volume remained unfinished.

Reviews and adjustments

Rewald wrote that "the term 'Post-Impressionism' is not a very precise one, though a very convenient one"; convenient, when the term is by definition limited to French visual arts derived from Impressionism since 1886. Rewald's approach to historical data was narrative rather than analytic, and beyond this point he believed it would be sufficient to "let the sources speak for themselves." Rival terms like

Modernism Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

or Symbolism were never as easy to handle, for they covered literature, architecture and other arts as well, and they expanded to other countries. *

, thus, is now considered to be the central movement within ''international'' western civilization with its original roots in France, going back beyond the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

to the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

. * Symbolism, however, is considered to be a concept which emerged a century later in France, and implied an individual approach. Local national traditions as well as individual settings therefore could stand side by side, and from the very beginning a broad variety of artists practicing some kind of symbolic imagery, ranged between extreme positions:

The Nabis Les Nabis (French: les nabis, ) were a group of young French artists active in Paris from 1888 until 1900, who played a large part in the transition from impressionism and academic art to abstract art, symbolism and the other early movements of ...

for example united to find synthesis of tradition and brand new form, while others kept to traditional, more or less academic forms, when they were looking for fresh contents: Symbolism is therefore often linked to fantastic, esoteric, erotic and other non-realist subject matter. To meet the recent discussion, the connotations of the term 'Post-Impressionism' were challenged again:

Alan Bowness Sir Alan Bowness CBE (11 January 1928 – 1 March 2021) was a British art historian, art critic, and museum director. He was the director of the Tate Gallery between 1980 and 1988. Early life Bowness was born in Finchley to Kathleen (née ...

and his collaborators expanded the period covered forward to 1914 and the beginning of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, but limited their approach widely on the 1890s to France. Other European countries are pushed back to standard connotations, and Eastern Europe is completely excluded. So, while a split may be seen between classical 'Impressionism' and 'Post-Impressionism' in 1886, the end and the extent of 'Post-Impressionism' remains under discussion. For Bowness and his contributors as well as for Rewald, ' Cubism' was an absolutely fresh start, and so Cubism has been seen in France since the beginning, and later in England. Meanwhile, Eastern European artists, however, did not care so much for western traditions, and proceeded to manners of painting called abstract and suprematic—terms expanding far into the 20th century. According to the present state of discussion, ''Post-Impressionism'' is a term best used within Rewald's definition in a strictly historical manner, concentrating on French art between 1886 and 1914, and re-considering the altered positions of ''

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...

'' painters like

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

, Camille Pissarro, Auguste Renoir, and others—as well as all new schools and movements at the turn of the century: from Cloisonnism to Cubism. The declarations of war, in July/August 1914, indicate probably far more than the beginning of a World War—they signal a major break in European cultural history, too. Along with general art history information given about "Post-Impressionism" works, there are many museums that offer additional history, information and gallery works, both online and in house, that can help viewers understand a deeper meaning of "Post-Impressionism" in terms of fine art and traditional art applications.

Post-Impression in specific countries

''The Advent of Modernism: Post-impressionism and North American Art, 1900-1918'' by Peter Morrin, Judith Zilczer, and William C. Agee, the catalogue for an exhibition at the

High Museum of Art The High Museum of Art (colloquially the High) is the largest museum for visual art in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta, Georgia (on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district), the High is 312,000 square feet (28, ...

, Atlanta in 1986, gave a major overview of Post-Impressionism in North America.

Canada

Canadian Post-Impressionism is an offshoot of Post-Impressionism. In 1913, the Art Association of Montreal's Spring show included the work of Randolph Hewton,

A. Y. Jackson Alexander Young Jackson LL. D. (October 3, 1882April 5, 1974) was a Canadian painter and a founding member of the Group of Seven. Jackson made a significant contribution to the development of art in Canada, and was instrumental in bringing toget ...

and John Lyman: it was reviewed with sharp criticism by the ''Montreal Daily Witness'' and the ''Montreal Daily Star''. Post-Impressionism was extended to include a painting by Lyman, who had studied with

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primar ...

. Lyman wrote in defence of the term and defined it. He referred to the British show which he described as a great exhibition of modern art.

Canadian artists and exhibitions

A wide and diverse variety of artists are called by this name in Canada. Among them are James Wilson Morrice, John Lyman, David Milne, and Tom Thomson, members of the Group of Seven, and

Emily Carr Emily Carr (or M. Emily Carr as she sometimes signed her work) (December 13, 1871 – March 2, 1945) was a Canadian artist and writer who was inspired by the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. One of the painters in Canada to ado ...

. In 2001, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa organized the travelling exhibition ''The Birth of the Modern: Post-Impressionism in Canada, 1900-1920''.

Gallery of major Post-Impressionist artists

File:Odilon Redon - The Cyclops, c. 1914.jpg, Odilon Redon (1840–1916) File:Henri Rousseau - Le Rêve - Google Art Project.jpg, Henri Rousseau (1844–1910) File:Paul Gauguin 128.jpg,

(1848–1903) File:Vincent Willem van Gogh 132.jpg,

(1853–1890) File:Charles Théophile Angrand 001.jpg,

Charles Angrand Charles Angrand (19 April 1854 – 1 April 1926) was a French artist who gained renown for his Neo-Impressionist paintings and drawings. He was an important member of the Parisian avant-garde art scene in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Early li ...

(1854–1926) File:Henri-Edmond Cross, 1908, Les cyprès à Cagnes, oil on canvas, 81 x 100 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris.jpg,

Henri-Edmond Cross Henri-Edmond Cross, born Henri-Edmond-Joseph Delacroix, (20 May 1856 – 16 May 1910) was a French painter and printmaker. He is most acclaimed as a master of Neo-Impressionism and he played an important role in shaping the second phase of ...

(1856–1910) File:Maximilien Luce - 'Montmartre, de la rue Cortot, vue vers saint-denis', oil on canvas painting, c. 1900.jpg,

Maximilien Luce Maximilien Luce (13 March 1858 – 6 February 1941) was a prolific French Neo-impressionist artist, known for his paintings, illustrations, engravings, and graphic art, and also for his anarchist activism. Starting as an engraver, he then c ...

(1858–1941) File:Georges Seurat - A Sunday on La Grande Jatte -- 1884 - Google Art Project.jpg, Georges Seurat (1859–1891 File:Eugène Chigot (French, 1860-1927) Jeune femme au bord de l'étang (c1905).jpg, Eugène Chigot (1860-1923) File:Schutzenberger Iles du Rhin.jpg,

René Schützenberger René-Paul Schützenberger (29 July 1860 – 31 December 1916) was a French Post-Impressionist painter. Biography Born in Mulhouse, into an Alsatian family of famous brewers, he was the son of Paul Schützenberger (1829–1897), a Fr ...

(1860–1916) File:Intérieur aux deux verres.jpg,

Marius Borgeaud Marius Borgeaud (21 September 1861 – 16 July 1924) was a Swiss Post-Impressionist painter. He was born in Lausanne. Early life Borgeaud came from a bourgeois milieu; he attended the Industrial School of Lausanne and did not intend to pursue p ...

(1861–1924) File:WLANL - artanonymous - Zelfportret (1).jpg,

Charles Laval Charles Laval (17 March 1862 – 27 April 1894) was a French painter associated with the Synthetic movement and Pont-Aven School. Laval was born in Paris, and was a contemporary and friend of Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh. Gauguin crea ...

(1862–1894) File:Portrait-Alice-Sethe-1888.jpg,

Théo van Rysselberghe Théophile "Théo" van Rysselberghe (23 November 1862 – 13 December 1926) was a Belgian neo-impressionist painter, who played a pivotal role in the European art scene at the turn of the twentieth century. Biography Early years Born i ...

(1862–1926) File:Signac - Portrait de Félix Fénéon.jpg, Paul Signac (1863–1935) File:Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 036.jpg,

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in th ...

(1864–1901) File:Serusier - the talisman.JPG,

Paul Sérusier Paul Sérusier (9 November 1864 – 7 October 1927) was a French painter who was a pioneer of abstract art and an inspiration for the avant-garde Nabis movement, Synthetism and Cloisonnism. Education Sérusier was born in Paris. He studied ...

(1864–1927) File:Paesaggio nabi paul ranson.jpg,

Paul Ranson Paul-Élie Ranson (29 March 1861 – 20 February 1909) was a French painter and writer associated with Les Nabis. Biography He was born in Limoges. His mother died in childbirth, so he was raised and educated by his grandparents and his fa ...

(1864–1909) File:Georges Lemmen - Plage à Heist.jpg, Georges Lemmen (1865–1916) File:Valloton Frau mit Dienstmagd beim Baden.jpg, Félix Vallotton (1865–1925) File:The dining room in the country by Pierre Bonnard (1913).jpg, Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947) File:Édouard Vuillard 001.jpg, Édouard Vuillard (1868–1940) File:Émile Bernard 1888-08 - Breton Women in the Meadow (Le Pardon de Pont-Aven).jpg, Émile Bernard (1868–1941) File:Maurice Denis - Wave - Google Art Project.jpg, Maurice Denis (1870–1943) File:Robert Antoine Pinchon, Le Pont aux Anglais, soleil couchant, 1905, oil on canvas, 54 x 73 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen.jpg,

Robert Antoine Pinchon Robert Antoine Pinchon (, 1 July 1886 in Rouen – 9 January 1943 in Bois-Guillaume) was a French Post-Impressionist landscape painter of the Rouen School (''l'École de Rouen'') who was born and spent most of his life in France. He was consi ...

(1886–1943)

References and sources

;References ;Sources *Bowness, Alan, et alt.: ''Post-Impressionism. Cross-Currents in European Painting'', Royal Academy of Arts & Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London 1979

External links

"Post-Impressionists"
Walter Sickert's review in '' The Fortnightly Review'' of the "Manet and the Post-Impressionists" exhibition at the Grafton Galleries
"Post-Impressionism"
Roger Fry's lecture on the closing of the "Manet and the Post-Impressionists" exhibition at the Grafton Galleries, as published in '' The Fortnightly Review''
''Georges Seurat, 1859-1891''
a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art
''Toulouse-Lautrec in the Metropolitan Museum of Art''
a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art
"Roger Fry, Walter Sickert and Post-Impressionism at the Grafton Galleries"
a reflection by Prof. Marnin Young on the 1910-1911 exhibition {{Authority control Modernism Art movements