Post-Impressionism

Also called "Neo-Impressionism" or "Post-Impressionism," it is an artistic movement that originated in France at the end of the 18th century, represented as a continuation and opposition to Impressionism. It takes elements from it, but at the same time rejects the limitations it implies.

Today, our eyes are accustomed to seeing pure colors, landscapes of nature, different types of brushstrokes, etc. Therefore, to understand Post-Impressionism, it is necessary to know that it is owed the artistic freedom as a whole. Post-Impressionism is the foundation of modern and contemporary styles.

The critic Roger Fry first spoke of this movement and named "post-impressionist" the paintings that appeared at the end of the 19th century made by painters like Cezanne, Seurat, Gauguin, Van Gogh, and others. Many of them started with the Impressionist style and abandoned it, developing their own.

Social Context

The 19th century saw the collapse of empires such as the Spanish, French, Chinese, Roman, and Mughal of India. The rampant industrial revolution emerged and allowed the evolution and rapid growth of cities.

In this era, the modern cities we know today appeared, new inventions were made, changes that caused a transformation in society and boosted the growth of the bourgeois social class, which in turn favored the massification of traditionally high-class art forms, such as opera and ballet. Pictorial art, on the other hand, experienced a different phenomenon, with artists beginning to appear who, in a vindictive manner, took existing canons and transformed them to their liking, in a highly personal way.

The Impressionist painters are witnesses and some participants in these changes, after a few years most of them settle into Post-Impressionism. They embody the ideals of individualism and objectivism, advocated by the intellectual currents of the time.

Characteristics of Post-Impressionism

In a pragmatic way, what characterizes Post-Impressionism are the short, precise brushstrokes, a reflection of the rapid changes developing at the time. Pure colors evoke the radicality experienced in society. Nature is no longer seen subjectively, but observed as a whole. The movement of the images along with the texture, reflect the cultural dynamism that accelerates thanks to new means of transport and the importation of exotic objects, especially from the East. Therefore, one of the prominent branches of Post-Impressionism is "Japonism," a sub-style of which Vincent van Gogh was one of the main exponents, for example with works like: "A Crab on its Back".

In conclusion, Post-Impressionism consists of a liberation from classical forms, colors, and textures are transformed along with the social change of the late 1800s. The barriers of reason are completely uncovered, giving rise to a culture of inclusion and equality that persists to this day.