Georges Seurat
Paul Cezanne
Paul Gauguin
Vincent van Gogh
Toulouse-Lautrec
 Not all artists agreed to paint in the vibrant
Impressionist style, which pushed a use of a variety of
styles of painting in POST-IMPRESSIONISM
 POST-IMPRESSIONISM is a more individual approach
to painting that began in France during the late
nineteen century and art was unique to each artist
working at the time
 Georges Seurat was deemed the “notary” by Edgar Degas, as he
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was always polished with top hat, dark suit and perfectly pressed
trousers.
He carried this similar meticulous nature into his painting style
and art.
His quasiscientific “pointililims” method consisted of applying
confetti-sized dots of pure, unmixed colour over the whole
canvas. These colours would then fuse together like a mosaic to
create the perfect colour and image when viewed from a
distance.
His theory was that “complementary colours set side by side,
could be mixed more accurately and with luminosity with the
viewer’s eye, than if mixed on a painters palette”
The process took so long that Seurat had only finished seven
large paintings in his career.
 Taking him two full years to paint, and 40 preliminary
studies, this painting maintained the carefree genre subject
matter of the Impressionist, but used a strong design based
on geometric shapes and paint application with calculated
patterns.
 Seurat also developed a methodical system of using colour
and line to evoke emotion; warm colours (orange-reds) and
upward lines evoked action and happiness, dark, cool
colours ( blue-greens) and descending lines meant
sadness, and middle tones and lateral lines conveyed a
sense of calmness
 The final product a serene yet energetic picture of the
French enjoying a warm sunny day by the River Seine
 Originally painting in the Impressionist style, Cezanne
felt blurred shapes did not depict the solidity of the
world
 He wanted to create art that emphasized form more
than light
 His technical approach to painting consisted of laying
down interlocking blocks or patches of colour rather
than dots and dabs that were joined like a puzzle
 This created a strong solid underlying structure to his
forms, giving his works a feeling of solidity and
permanence.
 Paul Gauguin turned to the use of colour and shape to
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create daring, unconventional works depicting foreign
lands and people.
Gauguin formed a particular attachment to the Tahitian
culture and their exotic woman.
After giving up a job as a stock broker, he traveled around
the world to learn about art and different artistic traditions.
Settling in Tahiti, Gauguin produced most of his famous
works.
He loved the use of simple shapes and brilliant simple
colours, but most of all he loved to render the exotic beauty
of the island and the lifestyle of their beautiful woman.
“Spirit of the Dead Watching,”
“La Orana Maria”, 1892
 Like other Post-Impressionist, van Gogh was initially
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amazed by Impressionist works.
But eventually he felt it limiting in what it could express
emotionally.
Van Gogh was not interested in visual accuracy, but rather
feelings about the subject.
He did so by using expressive elements in this paintings
like lines, rich colours, and complex textures.
His art was initially rejected, only selling one painting
during his lifetime.
Financially supported by his brother
 Often mistaken for Degas’s, Toulouse-Lautrec works
took subjects of contemporary life: Parisian theatre,
dance halls and circuses.
 His most important contribution is to graphic arts, for
his use of lithography and the use of poster design as a
form of major artwork
 His primary focus in his artwork was the figure and
their interactions in interior settings and he found
landscapes or backgrounds to be an added element.