The Post-Impressionists

Continuing our tour of the Cleveland Museum of Art, we move on to the generation of artists that followed the Impressionists... known for lack of a better term as the Post-Impressionists.  These artists criticized the Impressionists for slavishly copying nature, and their styles moved in a number of directions.

One style which emerged among some Post-Impressionists was pointillism, in which the painting is composed of small dots or dashes of pure color.

 "The Pink Cloud" 1896

by Henri Edmund Cross

"Bord de l'Oise" 1888

by Louis Hayet

The most famous of the Pointillists was George Seurat.  This painting, a study for a much larger painting, was done just a year before he embraced Pointillism and started the most renowned of all his paintings, "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jette".

"Study for Bathers at Asnieres" 1883

by George Seurat

One of the most important painters of his generation was Paul Cezanne.  His works emphasize geometric structure.  He maintained color intensity throughout the painting rather than allowing tones to fade into the distance.  He is considered the bridge between Impressionism and Cubism.  Three of his canvasses are on display in the museum.

"Mount Sainte-Victoire" about 1904

"The Brook" between 1895 and 1900

"Pigeon Tower at Bellevue" 1890

"Summer" 1891

by Pierre Puvis Chavannes

This large painting is typical of the dreamlike themes and flat, anti-naturalist style of Chavannes.

Paul Gauguin was the leader of the Symbolist movement.  This painting is a metaphor for the modern European woman who abandons herself to her natural instincts.

"In the Waves" 1889

Gauguin left his wife and children to pursue an career as an artist.  He spent his last years in Tahiti where he produced some of his most famous works.  This enigmatic painting is part of a series exploring the mysteries of life and death.  One woman is gesturing to a figure outside of the painting, perhaps responding to the call of fate.

"The Call" 1902

Arguably the best known of the Post-Impressionist painters is Vincent Van Gogh, the Dutch artist who moved to France where he produced a vast number of paintings in his unique style.  Today they sell for millions, but he only sold one painting during his lifetime.  His tumultuous and tragic life is the stuff of motion pictures.  Two of his paintings are on display in the museum.

"The Large Plane Trees" 1889

This was painted during the time that Van Gogh had himself committed to an asylum in the town of St. Remy.  Even as a patient he continued to paint constantly.

"Adeleine Ravoux" 1890

In the last year of his life Van Gogh rented a room at an inn in the small town of Auvers.  This is a portrait of the innkeeper's daughter.  If you have seen the movie "Loving Vincent" you will recognize her.

The next entry from the Cleveland Museum of Art will move on to the avant garde movements of the early 20th century.