1880 – 1920
NOTE: Post-Impressionism, unlike other art movements, is not coherent. Artists painted in different styles which makes it tricky to pinpoint common characteristics. However, within Post-Impressionism, there’s one remarkably unique style that you could identify at first sight, which is explained below.
1. The main common characteristic among all the various Post-Impressionist styles is heavy outlines. Artists ditched the fuzziness of Impressionist art and brought back strong emphasis on form. The subject matter did not differ from that found in Impressionist paintings. Artists continued to depict the leisurely life of the urbanite middle class. Many of the scenes were outdoors: beaches and landscapes.
La Goulue arriving at the Moulin Rouge by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
The bather by Paul Cézanne
Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh
Te aa no areois (The Seed of the Areoi) by Paul Gauguin
2. Look for canvases covered with an incredible number of tiny dots of colour. This is a subcategory of Post-Impressionism called Pointillism, a term used interchangeably with Divisionism, Chromoluminarism and Neo-Impressionism.
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grand Jatte by Georges Seurat
Breakfast by Paul Signac
3. Divisionism is sometimes used to refer only to the technique of the small brush strokes distinguishing it from the Pointillist technique of colourful dots.
The Road Menders by Vincent van Gogh
2. How Post-Impressionism got its name and what gave rise to it?
3. Why Post-Impressionist artists were rebels?