2. ORIGIN
By the last Impressionist exhibition in 1886, younger artists
and critics demanded a shift in the focus of the
representational arts.
Impressionists neglected the importance of subject matter
over techniques and natural light.
The dissenting artists became known as the Post-
Impressionists, a term that grouped together widely varying
individual artistic styles.
3. ORIGIN
Many of the movement's foremost figures were rivals in
method and approach.
Gauguin and Seurat both detested one another and shared
a low opinion of each other's styles, and while van Gogh
revered the work of the Impressionist Edgar Degas and
fellow Post-Impressionist Henri Rousseau, he was skeptical
of Cezanne's rigorously ordered style.
4. ORIGIN
Post-Impressionists: A term that was coined by Roger Fry, an
artist and art critic (1866-1934) in his seminal exhibition
Manet and the Post-Impressionists installed at the Grafton
Galleries in London in 1910.
6. LEAD ARTIST
He epitomized the reaction against Impression:
‘I wanted to make of Impressionism something
solid and enduring, like the art in museums.’
Believing colour and form to be inseparable,
he tried to emphasize structure and solidity in
his work, features he thought neglected by the
Impressionists.
7. LEAD ARTIST
For this reason he was a central figure in Post-
Impressionism. He rarely dated his works (and often
did not sign them either), which makes it hard to
ascertain the chronology of his oeuvre with any
precision. Until the end of his life he received little
public success and was repeatedly rejected by the
Paris Salon.
In his last years his work began to influence many
younger artists, including both the Fauves and the
Cubists, making him a precursor of 20th-century art.
8. KEY IDEAS
Post-Impressionism encompasses
a wide range of distinct artistic styles
response to the opticality of the Impressionist movement
concentrated on the subjective vision of the artist
a window into the artist's mind and soul
9. KEY CONCEPTS
Seurat and Pointilism – Neo-Impressionism, divisionism,
chromo-luminarism, optical blending, Paul Signac
10. KEY CONCEPTS
Van Gogh and Japonisme – saturated colors and broad
brush strokes, inner turmoil of the artist, rejected academic
style, fine painting & opticality; Paul Gauguin, Henri de
Toulouse-Lautrec
11. KEY CONCEPTS
Gauguin and Synthetism-
interest in symbolic content and
abstracted images; discarded
shading, modeling and single
point perspective; focused on
pure color, strong lines and
flatness to elicit emotional impact;
derived from memory or
imagination; religion, mythology,
literature.
12. KEY CONCEPTS
Cezanne and Pictorial Form – underlying formal structure of
subject matter; simplest geometric components; cylinder,
sphere and cone; planes of color to create shapes.
13. KEY CONCEPTS
Rousseau and Primitivism -
primitivism as naïve self-
taught style; used simplified
abstract forms and surface
patterns; images derived from
imagination and
subconscious; influenced
Fauves, Cubists, and
Surrealists.
14. KEY CONCEPTS
Les Nabis – synthesis of nature
and personal expression within the
work of art; from Hebrew word
“prophet”; focus on mysticism and
spirituality of artist; use of paint
direct from the tube; patterned
design and stylized contours; Paul
Sérusier, Maurice Denis, Pierre
Bonnard, Édouard Vuillard; use of
various forms (painting, prints,
stained glass, stage set).
15. LEADING ARTISTS
Georges Seurat
Vincent van Gogh
Paul Gaugain
Paul Cezanne
== a group of young painters who broke free from the
naturalism of Impressionism and pursued independent
approaches and styles in art.
26. POST - IMPRESSIONISM
Paul Gauguin
1848-1903
French artist Paul
Gauguin's bold colors,
exaggerated body
proportions and stark
contrasts helped him
achieve broad success
in the late 19th century.
Symbolism
38. SUMMARY
According to the present state of discussion, Post-
Impressionism is a term best used within Rewald's
definition in a strictly historical manner (French art
between 1886 and 1914).
Laid the foundations of Cubism, Expressionism and
Fauvism.
Influenced spread outside of France like in Norway
(Edward Munch) and Belgium (James Ensor).
39. By 1910, movements like Fauvism,
Expressionism, and Cubism already
dominated the European avant-garde.
Each new development in these major
movements was built upon the symbolism
and structure advocated by the different
Post-Impressionist styles.
41. JAPONISME
Japonisme, or Japonism, is a French term that was first
used by Jules Claretie in his book L’Art Francais en 1872.
It refers both to influence and style of Japanese art on
Western art.
Vincent Van Gogh
Portrait of Pere Tanguy
1887-1888
42. JAPONISME
Precedents:
Re-opening of Japanese trade with the West in 1854.
Introduction of Japanese arts and crafts in Europe like fans,
porcelains, woodcuts and fans.
43. JAPONISME
In 1862, a shop opens in Paris called “The Chinese Gate.”
The shop sold Japanese prints made from woodblocks,
which appealed greatly to 19th century artists. The best
Japanese prints could be found in Paris.
Kinryusan Temple at Asakusa: From the
series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo,
Edo period (1615–1868), 1856
Ando Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797–1858)
Oban format, woodblock print; ink and color
on paper
44. JAPONISME
Articles were featured in French magazines and
newspapers
concerning Japanese art techniques, and prints from the Edo
era.
In 1867, Paris saw a formal exhibition of Japanese arts
when it joined the World Fair in Paris.
In the late 1800s, there were many French artists and
collectors that went to Japan.
Japanese Satsuma
pavillion at the French
Expo 1867.
46. JAPONISME
What did French artists admire about Japanese prints?
Its foreignness/exotic appeal.
Its uniqueness that comes from specific elements employed
by Japanese painters.
47. JAPONISME
One of these elements is the lack of distinction of shading
in Japanese prints. Artists, like Manet, who were influenced
by Japanese prints, began to break down distinctions
between depth.
Emphasis on flatness
48. JAPONISME
Another element is Japanese artists’ disregard for
symmetry, something that had defined a lot of western
European art. Japanese techniques were so different from
the Greco-Roman art that has been a primary influence on
western art for centuries.
49. JAPONISME
Emphasis on nature, and recording nature in an almost
picturesque fashion, stressing the verticality of their painting,
and painting from aerial perspective are some examples.
50. JAPONISME
There were so many artists influenced by Japanese prints,
like, van Gogh, Mary Cassatt, Gauguin, Whistler, Degas,
Monet, Gustav Klimt, and even the architect Frank Lloyd
Wright.
56. JAPONISME
The color harmonies, simple designs, asymmetrical
compositions, and flat forms of Japanese wood
block prints strongly influenced the composition of
Impressionist & Post-Impressionist art, graphic
design and even industrial products.
