Post-Impressionism

1. Period and Location: Post-Impressionism

The artwork that you will be looking at today dates from 1884 to 1894 and focuses geographically on Paris, France. It’s important to point out that Post-Impressionism is more of a chronological reference than a specific style—it literally means “after impressionism.” Aside from the literal meaning, however, Post-Impressionism also refers to the spirit of the style rather than a specific time or period. In other words, some Post-Impressionists were painting at the same time as the Impressionists.

term to know

Post-Impressionism

A movement in painting that rejected aspects of Impressionism while retaining an interest in color and expressive brushstrokes.

2. Post-Impressionism: Influences and Development

Post-Impressionism emerged from many artists’ observation that Impressionism had reached its limits and could not be further developed. These artists grew tired of Impressionism’s lack of structure and its focus on fleeting moments. While Impressionism continued into the early 20th century, Post-Impressionism offered a different approach to painting.

As a stylistic movement, Post-Impressionism emphasized experimentation with brushwork, color, and the distortion of form. In the case of Paul Cézanne, it also introduced the idea of underlying geometric structures. Post-Impressionism often moved beyond Impressionism, adding more structure while retaining many of its painterly qualities. However, this can sometimes blur the distinction between Impressionism and Post-Impressionism for novice students of art history.

3. Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne is a pivotal figure in the history of art, not only for his contributions to Post-Impressionism but also for his role as a transformative bridge between the 19th and 20th centuries. His work connects the fluid, ephemeral qualities of Impressionism with bold, geometric planes of color, establishing him as a crucial link in the development of modern art.

Cézanne’s approach was driven by a desire to bring a bolder sense of structure and solidity to Impressionism. While Impressionists like Monet and Renoir focused on capturing fleeting moments and the play of light, Cézanne sought to articulate space and form in a more tangible way. He did this mainly through his innovative use of color with shapes, which became his distinctive style’s hallmark.

In Cézanne’s work, you see planes of color applied in a methodical, architectural manner. These blocks of color, often square or rectangular, build up forms that feel both grounded and dynamic, giving his paintings a unique sense of heavy depth and volume. Cézanne achieved this effect through the careful modulation of color and the use of atmospheric perspective, where distant objects are softened and blurred to enhance the illusion of distance.

In this still life featuring a basket of apples, observe how Cézanne articulates space by using color fields to create volume. This analytical approach to painting gives his work a distinct quality that some may perceive as more experimental than emotional. The careful placement of color creates a sense of form, allowing the objects to emerge with a solidity that feels sculptural, showcasing Cézanne’s unique method of constructing his compositions.

Cézanne’s influence on modern art cannot be overstated. His exploration of geometric simplification and the breakdown of natural forms into basic shapes laid the groundwork for future art movements like Cubism and Fauvism. Artists such as Picasso and Matisse drew heavily from Cézanne’s innovations, seeing in his work a new way to approach composition and representation. In this sense, Cézanne’s art not only bridged two centuries but also set the stage for the radical transformations that defined 20th-century art.

term to know

Atmospheric Perspective

A form of perspective in which more distant objects are depicted in a grayish or bluish haze.

4. Vincent van Gogh

In contrast, the Post-Impressionist work of Vincent van Gogh is characterized by a deep emotional quality.

did you know

The correct Dutch pronunciation of Van Gogh’s name, reflecting his origins in the Netherlands, sounds more like “van Hoch,” with a guttural “ch” similar to the sound made when clearing your throat. In the United Kingdom, it’s commonly pronounced as “van Goff.” However, the most widespread and accepted pronunciation, especially in the United States, is “van Go,” with a long “o.” This confusion was likely anticipated by the artist as he signed his paintings only with his first name, “Vincent.”

Van Gogh’s life is a poignant and tragic exploration of mental illness as part of our human condition—an experience vividly expressed through his art. His work serves as a powerful reflection of the intense emotional turmoil he endured, offering a window into his inner world. One of the most iconic examples of this is his masterpiece, The Starry Night, which captures both the beauty and turbulence of his psyche. Through swirling, dreamlike skies and vibrant, expressive colors, Van Gogh conveys a deep sense of emotion, revealing the complexities of human experience in a way that continues to resonate with audiences today.

did you know

Van Gogh didn’t start painting until he was 27 years old and received no formal training. Sadly, Van Gogh only painted for a decade before losing his battle with depression. Despite his short career, Van Gogh completed an astonishing 2,100 artworks. Though he bartered many of those works for food and supplies, he sold only a few during his lifetime.

Van Gogh employs the technique of impasto, where thick layers of paint are applied to the canvas, creating a textured, sculptural surface that invites a tactile interaction with the artwork. Through this method, combined with his use of vibrant color and dynamic form, Van Gogh crafts paintings that are deeply expressive and emotionally charged.

In artworks like The Starry Night, the calmness typically associated with a nighttime scene is disrupted by the intense, swirling motion of the sky. The stars and moon appear to pulsate with energy, turning what could be a serene evening into a depiction of frenzied activity. This visual turbulence is often interpreted as Van Gogh’s internal turmoil. Knowing that Van Gogh painted The Starry Night during his stay at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum underscores the duality of beauty and pain in his work

This approach represents more than just a personal expression; it also serves as an early precursor to Expressionism, a movement that would come to dominate much of 20th-century art. Van Gogh’s ability to convey emotion through exaggerated color, form, and texture laid the groundwork for later artists who sought to explore the depths of human emotion and subjective experience in their work.

term to know

Impasto

The thick buildup of paint, usually oil or acrylic, on the surface of a painting.

5. Georges Seurat and Pointillism

Pointillism was a form of experimental art developed in part by Georges Seurat. It was an exercise in color theory as much as it was a new way to paint. Pointillism is, in many ways, a precursor to modern pixels and how they are assembled to form a digitally produced picture.

EXAMPLE

For example, consider this image of Mount Hood in Oregon. From a distance, the image appears completely cohesive and realistic.

However, if you were to zoom in on a particular area, such as the one delineated within the red box, you would see that the picture is actually made up of millions of individual blocks of color—little points called pixels, as shown below.

Pointillism operates on a principle similar to that of pixelated digital images, but with the key difference that the tiny dots of color are meticulously applied by hand. Instead of mixing colors directly on the palette, the artist places individual dots of pure color close together, relying on the viewer’s distance from the painting and the natural light reflecting off the canvas to visually blend the colors. This optical mixing process requires the artist to have a good understanding of color theory. For example, if an artist wanted to create the effect of purple for a viewer, they might place dots of red adjacent to dots of blue.

This technique creates a distinctive and striking effect, where the colors appear more vibrant and intense. The tiny gaps between the dots allow the canvas to show through, contributing to a heightened visual experience—somewhat akin to the effect of static on a color television screen.

The painting below, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, is an enormous canvas held at the Art Institute in Chicago. Its size is impressive; it literally takes up an entire wall. Showing a scene of leisure on the banks of the Seine River, the subject may remind you of Impressionism; however, Seurat’s pointillist technique reveals a more methodical and scientific approach to painting.

As shown below, it’s helpful to see paintings such as this up close to truly appreciate the effect.

think about it

How is this method of applying paint different from that of the Impressionists? Consider the thick dash-like brushstrokes of Monet’s Impression, Sunrise, for example. How does that spontaneous technique render a different effect for the viewer than an artist carefully placing tiny dots of color in an organized pattern?

Seurat died young at the age of 31. His final painting, which was incomplete at the time of his death, shows how refined his technique had become in such a short period of time. As one can see below, his capability of depicting shadow, as shown on the horse, is of note. Each dot of color stands alone in a pointillist painting, meaning there was little margin for error.

did you know

Seurat’s masterpiece, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, continues to inspire artists from different genres. The celebrated musical theater composer Stephen Sondheim wrote a musical about Georges Seurat’s painting entitled Sunday in the Park with George, which premiered in 1984. The musical is considered one of Sondheim’s most innovative and complex works, and it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1985. Sunday in the Park with George is celebrated for its exploration of the artistic process and its use of music and visual elements to reflect the painting’s pointillist style.

terms to know

Pointillism

A Post-Impressionist movement in painting characterized by the use of tiny dots instead of brushstrokes that blend together when viewed from a distance.

Color Theory

The study of how colors relate to one another, including color mixing, the color wheel, and warm and cool colors.

Optical Mixing

A component of the pointillist technique that employs color theory, wherein artists place colors adjacent to one another and allow the viewer’s eyes to blend them perceptually.

6. Experimentation in Post-Impressionism

One of the defining characteristics of Post-Impressionism is its embrace of experimentation. This final image illustrates the diverse range of artistic approaches that emerged within the movement.

For example, the posters of Toulouse-Lautrec were groundbreaking in how they elevated the status of commercial art, blurring the lines between high art and popular culture. His work not only captured the vibrancy of Parisian nightlife but also influenced the development of graphic design and modern advertising. In this way, his poster art represents a key aspect of Post-Impressionism’s experimental nature, showing how artists of the time were redefining the possibilities of art and its role in society.

hint

This artwork also reflects the influence of Japanese prints on late 19th-century art, a topic you will explore further in a separate lesson.

term to know

Commercial Art

Art produced for the purpose of advertising a product.