Post-Impressionism
After Impressionism: colour and form serve structure, symbol and emotion, not the passing moment
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How to recognise it
- thick swirling strokes or dots of pure colour
- bold arbitrary colour, not as in nature
- dark outlines round flat colour areas
- objects built as geometric volumes
- exotic, dream and symbol over the everyday
Why it emerged
The last Impressionist show in 1886 suggested the method was spent. Seurat drew on optical science, Cézanne sought solidity, Gauguin and Van Gogh expression; Japanese prints offered flat colour.
Examples
The Starry Night1889 · Vincent van GoghThe view from an asylum window turned into a vortex, the best-known sky in painting
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte1884–1886 · Georges SeuratBuilt from countless dots of colour, the pointillist manifesto at the last Impressionist show.jpg?width=640 "Paul Cézanne · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons")
The Card Playersc. 1890–1895 · Paul CézannePeasants built as solid geometric volumes, a bridge from Impressionism to Cubism.jpg?width=640 "Paul Gauguin · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons")
Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?1897–1898 · Paul GauguinA frieze of life from birth to death, painted in Tahiti as the artist's testamentMore in this style
- c. 1892–1895 At the Moulin Rouge — Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
How it spread
- 1886 Paris
- 1887 Brussels
- 1888 Pont-Aven
- 1888 Arles
- 1891 Tahiti
Meanwhile elsewhere
- Ife and Benin bronzes Africa
- Ming and Qing Porcelain Asia
- Impressionism Europe
- Peredvizhniki (The Wanderers) Eastern Europe & Russia
- Art Nouveau Europe
- Expressionism Europe