you have surely seen some of these paintings and you've surely heard some of the names
associated with them vincent van gogh paul gogan paul suzanne all of these masterpieces
represent the art movement that radically transformed the world and greatly influence
the art that you love to this very day it's called post-impressionism in this
episode from curious muse we will find out more about this famous pivotal period in art history
if you'd like to see more art episodes be sure to give us a like and tell us
which topics you want to learn about next art has always been about expression and creativity
but there was a time centuries ago when it was very rigid and set in its ways the impressionist
era revolved around finite realistic depictions of the world beautiful classic but maybe a bit boring
that's what several up-and-coming artists thought vince van gogh paul gogan george serra
paul suzanna these revolutionaries all carried one common belief they thought art was supposed
to make people feel things it was supposed to portray the world around them as well as real
tangible emotions through abstract techniques and forms they didn't know it but they were
creating a fresh artistic movement that would shake up the world host impressionism
so these artists didn't really see themselves as a unified group
and they actually became known as the post-impressionists after their lives had
already ended so the term post-impressionism was coined by the english art critic called
roger frye who used it to name an exhibition monet and the post-impressionists in 1910
post-impressionists used daring vivid colors and abstract shapes to create astonishing visual
effects this was the stark difference in the ways the world was viewed and portrayed before
let's take a look at the four best known artists to ever do it first we have vincent van gogh
a man so famous that his name is synonymous with modern art the dutch painter truly needs
little to no introduction during his prolific career van gogh created many masterpieces
using his signature expressive brushstrokes and brilliant colors by using these revolutionary
techniques van gogh showed us parts of his inner world rich with emotions that were sometimes
tortured by his inner demons when we observe his iconic self-portrait with a bandaged year
we witness an artist and a fragile mental state we cannot hear van gogh and yet this work speaks
for him and creates a universal and relatable pain that is downright palpable while so much
art before post-impressionism was about beautiful vistas and landscapes this style of art invited
observers to see the landscape of the soul van gogh knew just how radical his work was
and how challenging too he even wrote to his brother theo and told him people say and i'm
quite willing to believe it that it's difficult to know oneself but it's not easy to paint oneself
either george serra preferred a more scientific approach to painting that's why he focused on
theories related to optics and color so syrah's best known artwork is called a sunday afternoon
on the island of legranjat the theme of the painting seems very impressionistic showing
members of parisian society enjoying their day out on the river but the way in which this work
was painted was different and new he mastered a radical technique that became known as pointillism
based on that name you won't be surprised to hear that pointillism consists of an artist using
tiny dots of pure colors like violet blue green yellow orange and red the colors weren't mixed on
a palette as they typically are instead they were placed next to each other directly onto the canvas
the idea was to achieve a kind of optical mixture when looking at the artwork next up is paul gogan
gogong crafted his post-impressionist artworks using brilliant vivid colors and simple forms
during his life gogan traveled extensively and went all around the world in hopes of locating
inspiration he went to brittany then arl's where he shared a house with van gogh for two
turbulent and troubled months now an accomplished world traveler gogan then visited martinique
panama and lived in tahiti for the majority of the last 12 years of his life
it was there that he made some of his best-known works but he led quite a problematic lifestyle
he was known to engage in sexual relationships with tahitian teenage girls for many years
gogan's work shows how many experts critics and historians have to view art as a product that is
both independent of its creator but also heavily influenced by him too does art exist without the
artist can you judge art without approving of the person behind it gogon remains a challenging but
undeniably accomplished figure in the world of art history paul suzanna was all about excellence a
perfectionist in so many ways this famous painter liked to slave over his work for long hours
focusing on each and every detail meticulously and never settling for anything short of flawlessness
his wife marie horton spent countless hours posing for susanna and was known to complain
about having to sit still for so long in one position therefore painting still lives
was ideal for the french artist because there wasn't anyone who could get bored with posing
in his post-impressionist paintings of various fruits laid out on the table
suzanna abandoned a traditional perspective and played with portraying objects from multiple sides
he was fundamentally changing how artists portrayed the real world
and because of that was also fundamentally changing how art fans saw the world
post-impressionism changed the world major art movements like favism cubism and expressionism
all would not have been possible without what was started by van gogh and others their explorations
of abstract forms paved the way for scores of artists in the 20th century and beyond hey muses
so what do you think of this game-changing style of art what is the most surprising thing you
learned about the artist that created it do you have a favorite piece of post-impressionism and do
you see how it influenced the art you loved today give us your thoughts about post impressionism
in the comments below don't forget to like and subscribe to us on youtube and instagram for more
thought-provoking content from curious muse remember that now you can listen
to our episodes via your favorite podcast platform lastly if you enjoy our content
and would like to support us you can now become our patreon join our community today
you