THE WORLD OF PAINTING (Postimpressionism)

THE WORLD OF PAINTING POSTIMPRESSIONISM

Post-Impressionism developed from Impressionism. From the 1880s several artists began to develop different precepts for the use of colour, pattern, form, and line, derived from the Impressionist example:Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Impressionism was an art movement. Post-impressionism was never an art movement. More correctly "post-impressionist" was a time period. Their art work was too different from each other to fit into a movement. The goal of the earlier impressionists like Renoir, Pissaro, Monet was to show the effects of light on scenes. In impressionism the goal of a work was often to portray a scene accurately and objectively, but rather than focusing on copying it exactly the effects of light and color are the main focus.

Post- Impressionism was a later movement which rejected the goals of impressionism despite using a lot of the same forms of painting. Expressing the ideas of the painter became the new goal of the painting. Post-Impressionist artists, unlike their predecessors, were known to use heavy paint strokes and a broad range of diverse colours to convey emotion and placed more focus on creating geometric and/or distorted images and the role of colour.

As with many other forms of artistic expression, these artists were trying to reveal something about themselves. They used their talents to convey truths they had discovered about themselves and the world around them.

Vincent van Gogh It was in 1880, 10 years before his death, Vincent van Gogh decided to become a painter.

The Dutch period of his work, 1880-85, consisted of dark and impasto (when paint is thick and often mixed directly on the canvas) studies of the disenfranchised people of society. The most famous of these is The Potato Eaters. The poverty and desperation Van Gogh was experiencing as an artist as well as the peasants’ horrible living conditions informed his painting.

Vincent van Gogh The Potato Eaters

Vincent van Gogh Van Gogh used a great deal of grays and blues in most of his paintings unveiling his struggle with depression and the idea that everyone has an inherently evil soul.

The dramatic elements of his tragic personal life also influenced Vincent’s paintings. Fellow artists and women rejected him- they didn’t like his overwrought emotional communication skills and could not relate to his intensity.

Vincent van Gogh Sunflowers Irises

Vincent van Gogh Wheat Field with Cypresses

Van Gogh Self portrait with bandaged ear In 1888 Vincent had his first attack of dementia. He cut off a portion of his ear and presented it to a woman at a local brothel

Vincent was confined to the Arles hospital, then to the asylum at St. Remy. During the remaining two years of his life, he was lucid for long intervals and continued to paint pictures of extraordinary beauty and intensity. ‘Starry Night’ is one of the most famous.

Vincent van Gogh Trees in the Asylum Garden Starry Night

But in 1890 despairing of his cure from mental illness, he shot himself in the chest. Although Vincent never made any money from his paintings, today his work sells for tens of millions of dollars. It is ironic that Vincent knew hardship and heartbreak during his life but became very successful after his death. Such is the reality for many great artists.

Paul Gauguin At first Paul Gauguin painted as a hobby while working as a stockbroker, until the stock market crashed in 1882. Turning to an art career Gauguin joined the Impressionists in style. He was dissatisfied with the purely visual emphasis of impressionism and attempted to a add more symbolism and spirituality to his artwork.

He eventually developed a new style which was influenced by his love of Japanese prints; he created paintings with bold splashes of color, bright streaks of unmixed paint, and simplified designs. Gauguin developed a fascination for exotic cultures, which was probably derived from his childhood memories of South America. In 1891 Gauguin moved to the French colony of Tahiti, where he created the paintings he is best known for today. Unfortunately he led a life of poverty in this area and his health deteriorated.

Paul Gauguin Woman Holding a Fruit Yellow Christ

Pointillism ( /ˈpwɛntɨlɪzəm/) is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of pure colour are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term Pointillism was first coined by art critics in the late 1880s to ridicule the works of these artists, and is now used without its earlier mocking connotation. Neo-impressionism and Divisionism are also terms used to describe this technique of painting.

Paul SignacPalais Avignon

Georges SeuratA Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte 

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Toulouse-Lautrec was masterly at capturing crowd scenes in which the figures are highly individualized. Tanz im Moulin Rouge