Post-Impressionism

Cézanne, Seurat, Van Gogh, and Gauguin are all Post-Impressionists, though their styles vary widely.

c. 1880 - 1900

Beginner's guide

Post-Impressionism includes artists as diverse as Van Gogh, Cézanne, Gauguin, and Seurat.

videos + essays

We're adding new content all the time!

Vincent van Gogh, <em>Irises</em>: the search for violet<br> Getty Conversations
Vincent van Gogh, Irises: the search for violet
Getty Conversations

Recent scientific research reveals the stunning original hues of the Van Gogh's Irises.

Vincent van Gogh, <em>Irises</em><br>Getty Conversations
Vincent van Gogh, Irises
Getty Conversations

Behind this iconic painting by Vincent van Gogh is the artist’s inspiring story about healing.

The Artist Project: Sopheap Pich on van Gogh’s drawings
The Artist Project: Sopheap Pich on van Gogh’s drawings

Sopheap Pich on Vincent van Gogh's drawings

Gauguin and Laval in Martinique
Gauguin and Laval in Martinique

Gauguin and Laval's journey to Martinique is a lesser-known chapter in the history of nineteenth-century French painting.

The Pont-Aven School and Synthetism
The Pont-Aven School and Synthetism

Gauguin’s paintings of Brittany are, in the end, more fantasies than accurate images of an authentic peasant culture.

Neo-Impressionist Color Theory
Neo-Impressionist Color Theory

The Neo-Impressionists prided themselves on bringing scientific rigor to the hitherto largely intuitive Impressionist project.

Introduction to Neo-Impressionism, Part II
Introduction to Neo-Impressionism, Part II

Although their subjects suggest carefree pleasure, there are undertones of social criticism in some Neo-Impressionist paintings.

Introduction to Neo-Impressionism, Part I
Introduction to Neo-Impressionism, Part I

The Neo-Impressionist desire to conform art-making to universal laws of perception, color, and expression echoes throughout Modernism.

Why Is This Woman in the Jungle? Henri Rousseau’s <em>The Dream</em>
Why Is This Woman in the Jungle? Henri Rousseau’s The Dream

Artist Henri Rousseau painted The Dream in 1910, and its imagery of a woman lounging on a sofa in the jungle was as surreal then as it is today.

Vincent van Gogh, <em>The Potato Eaters</em>
Vincent van Gogh, The Potato Eaters

What should a peasant painting smell like? Van Gogh has an opinion...

Paul Gauguin, <em>Self-Portrait with Portrait of Émile Bernard (Les misérables)</em>
Paul Gauguin, Self-Portrait with Portrait of Émile Bernard (Les misérables)

These self-portraits were swapped like friendship bracelets among Gauguin, Bernard, and their buddy Van Gogh.

Paul Cézanne, <em>Bathers (Les Grandes Baigneuses)</em>
Paul Cézanne, Bathers (Les Grandes Baigneuses)

The subject matter of this painting couldn’t be more traditional, but its formal characteristics make it modern.

Selected Contributors