Style & Genre Essays

Post Impressionism

A term applied to the work of modernist artists, it refers to many of the French artists in France from about 1885 to 1900. Included among the Post-Impressionists are Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat and Vincent Van Gogh. Although they all painted in highly personal styles and did not exhibit together under the 'umbrella' of Post Impressionism, they were united in rejecting the relative absence of form and emotion characteristic of Impressionism. The focus was on finding new ways to express form and space, and generally the public was not receptive.  Sources: Robert Atkins, ARTSPEAK; Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"