Post-Impressionism refers to a loose group of artists in the late 19th century who were influenced by Impressionism but developed their own unique styles. These artists, including Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, and Georges Seurat, experimented with techniques like pointillism, distortion of color and form, and symbolic content to convey emotion. Their works moved beyond Impressionism to focus more on design and emotion, laying the foundations for 20th century modern art movements like Cubism and Expressionism.

1. PostImpressionism

2. Some review:
Impressionism was influenced by Realism:
• scenes of contemporary life
• personal views and subjects; art for art’s sake
• avant garde attitude; the artist is separate from the mainstream

3. Some review:
Impressionism was influenced by Realism:
• scenes of contemporary life
• personal views and subjects; art for art’s sake
• avant garde attitude; the artist is separate from the mainstream
Impressionism was mainly concerned with:
• the play of light on surfaces
• intensity of colour (canvases primed white; no black used)
• informal compositions
• En Plein Aire-French expression which means "in the open air,"
and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.

4. The play of light on surfaces:
Renoir, Dance at the Moulin de la Galette, 1876

5. The play of light on surfaces:
Degas, L’etoile, 1878

6. Intensity of colour:
Monet, Field of Poppies, 1873

7. Intensity of colour:
Monet, Water Lilies, 1916

8. Informal compositions were inspired by the wide-spread
use of photography (thanks to the invention of roll film)
and the resulting candid photos.

9. Informal compositions:
Degas, The Absinthe
Drinker, 1876

10. We call the next generation Post-Impressionists

11. We call the next generation Post-Impressionists
“Post” signifies after.
The only thing this group of artists
has in common is that they ere
influenced by the Impressionists’
use of intense colour.
Their importance lies in their huge
influence on the artwork of the 20th
century: Modernism.

12. Post-Impressionism
•
Loose grouping of artists
using techniques of
impressionism.
•
Artists developed own unique
styles.
•
Wanted to combine
immediacy of impressionism
with composition of
traditional painting.
•
Followed two directions
focus on design, or focus on
emotion.

13. Henri Toulouse-Lautrec
At the
Moulin
Rouge,
1892 / 95

14. Henri Toulouse-Lautrec
La Goulue arrivant
au Moulin Rouge,
1895

15. Henri Toulouse-Lautrec
Jane Avril,
lithograph,
1893

16. Toulouse-Lautrec
• Short in stature (only 4’6”), turns to art scene in
Monmartre
• Was inspired by Degas (Japanese
prints=flatness)
• Also POSTERS! Elevated graphic arts!!!

17. Georges Seurat
Tiny dots of pure colour
placed next to each other;
your retina does the mixing!
No more informal
compositions;
everything is
carefully planned.
La Parade,1889

18. Georges Seurat
… this
technique
is called
pointillism.
Detail from
La Parade

19. •This is an extreme
close up of a bill
board.
•Notice the
similarities to
Seurat’s method of
adding color.
•This method is also
used in televisions.

20. Georges Seurat Sunday afternoon on the Island of Grand Jatte, 1884-86
Size: 81 ½ inches by 121”

21. Seurat
Seurat
• Known for Pointilism - using small dots of
complementary colors directly ON THE CANVAS
rather than mixed prior
• Complementary colors side by side mix in the
viewers eye with greater luminosity
• Seurat is influenced by Chevreul’s new idea called
COLOR THEORY

22. Paul Cezanne
Collapse of
space!!
Still Life with
Plaster Cupid,
1895

23. Paul Cezanne
Simplification
of form!!
The Card
Players,
1890-92

24. Paul Cezanne
Mount St.
Victoire, 1897
Surfaces broken up into flat
facets, like the shimmering
surface of a diamond!!

25. CÉZANNE
•“Father” of Modern Art (contact with the
Impressionists but creates his own “language”.
Known as a Post-Impressionist)
•Took landscape paintings into “something solid and
durable”
•His still lifes will influence Cubism (Braque and
Picasso)
25

26. 4 Techniques used by Cezanne
1. Color patches—used to capture true colors of surrounding land.
2. Varied colors– warmer colors placed closer towards view, while
cooler colors receding in background but did not use the theory
of atmospheric perspective and backgrounds are flat.
3. Multiple viewpoints—not like a camera, more real (Cubist)
4. Underlying shapes—rectangles, triangles, etc. “Treat nature as
a cylinder, sphere, or cone”.

27. Paul Gauguin
Distortion of space!!
Distortion of colour!!
The Vision
after the
Sermon, 1888

28. Paul Gauguin
The
beginnings of
abstraction!!
500 years of
tradition was
thrown out
the window!!
The Yellow
Christ,
1889

29. Paul Gauguin
Abstract
forms, colours
and
symbolism!!
Self Portrait
with Halo,
1889

30. GAUGUIN
•Originally a stockbroker with 5 children but left his
family to pursue art on his own in Paris, then leaves
Europe for Tahiti to paint
•His style: inspiration from stained glass, Japanese
prints, and cloisonne enameling
•PRIMITIVISM--art movement of late 19th century
characterized by exaggerated body proportions,
animal totems, geometric designs and stark contrasts
•He considered his style synthetismSynthesized the subject with the artist’s
Feeling, using line, shape, color, etc.

31. Vincent Van Gogh
Self Portrait, 1889

32. Vincent Van Gogh
Self Portraits

33. Vincent Van Gogh
Distortion of colour,
depth and form to
convey emotional or
psychological states!!
Van Gogh’s Room at Arles, 1889

34. These
swirls
weren’t in
the sky;
they were
in his
mind.
Vincent Van Gogh
Starry Night, 1889

35. VAN GOGH
• Trained to be an art dealer but then left to become a missionary
(then a painter). Socialist--progress=alienation
• Largely self-taught
• Supported by his art dealer brother, Theo
• KNOW ABOUT HIS STYLE—vibrant colors, swirling
brushstrokes, thick globs of paint (IMPASTO)
• Took Seurat’s Divisionism and blended it with Impressionism
• EXPRESSIONIST– the artist’s feelings are core and reality is
subjective

36. 20th Century Western Art has its roots in the Post Impressionists
Cezanne…
influenced “Cubism”

37. 20th Century Western Art has its roots in the Post Impressionists
Van Gogh and Gauguin…
influenced “Expressionism”

38. 20th Century Western Art has its roots in the Post Impressionists
Van Gogh and Gauguin…
influenced “Expressionism”

39. 20th Century Western Art has its roots in the Post Impressionists
Van Gogh and Gauguin…
influenced “Expressionism”