Post Impressionism

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Gauguin was a founding member of the school, becoming the primary mentor of the group, and others looked to him for guidance and motivation. The members fundamentally promoted the principles of this movement, as embodied in the works of Gauguin and van Gogh, especially, and as summarised below. Post-Impressionist works very often depicted aspects of contemporary life, using a vibrant non-naturalistic palette to express personal feeling and emotion. Post-Impressionist artists, however, further developed these principles and experimented with new styles and techniques, the most prominent of which being the expressionistic, decorative and often unnatural use of colour to depict not only the subject or setting but the emotional state of the artist. In Paris, some artists explored new ways of expression and broke free from the established French painting traditions enforced by the Salon. The creation of smaller lightweight canvases for “plein air” painting, artificial paint pigments, and the invention of the collapsible metal paint tube in 1840 for easier transport. Like those of the Impressionist period, later artists progressed to the exploration of a wider range of landscapes – predominantly gardens, people in the environment (both interior and exterior) and enjoying social or leisure activities. )

The primary school or group of painters established in the Post-Impressionist movement was called the Nabis School or the Pont-Aven group (after the France village where they were based). Artists took advantage of the contemporary scientific discoveries and industrialisation to improve the colour, lifespan, accessibility and general quality of the media (eg.

The Post-Impressionistic movement benefited from a break from established painting traditions similar to that of the Impressionists, creating pieces depicting the artist’s impression of landscapes and lending insight to an aspect of contemporary life (rather than the narrative or moralistic works previously prized).

Early subject matter often focussed on rural settings, peasants and field labour. The background from which Impressionism sprung was a period of industrial progress and a vibrant social scene.

The style favoured by the Post-Impressionists reflected that of the earlier movement – works often possessed a loose sketchy painterly quality that gave merely the impression of the subject rather than a naturalistic reproduction – but also experimented with techniques like the decorative use of colour, flatter application and often reflected the strong linear influence of Japanese ink drawing.

Common topics in this essay:
Pont-Aven France, Paul Gauguin, Salon Artists, Impressionism Art, Paul Cézanne, van gogh, painting traditions, styles techniques, contemporary life,

Approximate Word count = 628
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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