postimpression

Post-Impressionism is a term used to describe a loosely defined group of late 19th-century artists who reacted against the naturalism and immediacy of Impressionism by pursuing greater structure, symbolism, and personal expression in painting. The movement developed in France in the 1880s and extended into the early 20th century, roughly 1886 to 1905, though its influence lasted well beyond that period. It is not a single unified style but a umbrella label for diverse approaches.

Artists associated with Post-Impressionism pursued ideas beyond Impressionist concerns with fleeting light and everyday subject matter. Paul Cézanne emphasized underlying geometric forms and a systematic reconstruction of perception to reveal structure in nature. Vincent van Gogh embraced expressive color, emotional content, and vigorous brushwork to convey inner experience. Paul Gauguin explored symbolic content, bold color, and flatter pictorial planes, often drawing on non-European themes. Georges Seurat developed divisionism or pointillism, applying tiny dots of color to generate optical harmony and complex color effects.

Key figures frequently cited alongside these core names include Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and others who extended or adapted the approach in different directions. While their methods diverged, Post-Impressionists shared a move away from the immediacy of Impressionism toward more deliberate form, meaning, and experimental technique.

Impact and legacy: Post-Impressionism helped lay the groundwork for many modern movements, including Fauvism, Cubism, and Expressionism, by challenging normative ideas about color, form, and representation. The period remains influential for its emphasis on personal interpretation and the idea that painting can be a structured, expressive language rather than a direct record of visual appearance.