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Neo-Impressionism

Neo-Impressionism is a term coined by French art critic Félix Fénéon in 1886 to describe an art movement founded by Georges Seurat. Seurat's most renowned masterpiece, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, marked the beginning of this movement when it first made its appearance at an exhibition of the Société des Artistes Indépendants (Salon des Indépendants) in Paris.[1] Around this time, the peak of France's modern era emerged and many painters were in search of new methods. Followers of Neo-Impressionism, in particular, were drawn to modern urban scenes as well as landscapes and seashores. Science-based interpretation of lines and colors influenced Neo-Impressionists' characterization of their own contemporary art.[2] The Pointillist and Divisionist techniques are often mentioned in this context, because they were the dominant techniques in the beginning of the Neo-Impressionist movement.

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

1884–1886

207.6 cm × 308 cm (81.7 in × 121.3 in)

Some argue that Neo-Impressionism became the first true avant-garde movement in painting.[3] The Neo-Impressionists were able to create a movement very quickly in the 19th century, partially due to its strong connection to anarchism, which set a pace for later artistic manifestations.[3] The movement and the style were an attempt to drive "harmonious" vision from modern science, anarchist theory, and late 19th-century debate around the value of academic art. The artists of the movement "promised to employ optical and psycho-biological theories in pursuit of a grand synthesis of the ideal and the real, the fugitive and the essential, science and temperament."[1]

Overview[edit]

Principles of aesthetic: light, color, and form[edit]

Seurat and his followers tried to give their painting a scientific basis, by painting tiny dabs of primary colors close to each other to intensify the viewer's perception of colors by a process of optical mixing. This created greater apparent luminosity because the optical mixing of colors tends towards white, unlike mixing of paints on the palette which tends towards black and reduces intensity.[4] Neo-impressionists also used more precise and geometric shapes to simplify and reveal the relationships between forms.[5] Seurat's disciple Paul Signac later used what he felt to be a more poetic spontaneous use of divisionist technique.[5]


The development of color theory by Michel Eugène Chevreul and others by the late 19th century played a pivotal role in shaping the Neo-Impressionist style. Ogden Rood's book, Modern Chromatics, with Applications to Art and Industry, acknowledged the different behaviors exhibited by colored light and colored pigment.[6] While the mixture of the former created a white or gray color, that of the latter produced a dark, murky color. As painters, Neo-Impressionists had to deal with colored pigments,[2] so to avoid the dullness, they devised a system of pure-color juxtaposition. Mixing of colors was not necessary. The effective utilization of pointillism facilitated in eliciting a distinct luminous effect, and from a distance, the dots came together as a whole displaying maximum brilliance and conformity to actual light conditions.[7]

Origins of the term[edit]

There are a number of alternatives to the term "Neo-Impressionism" and each has its own nuance: Chromoluminarism was a term preferred by Georges Seurat.[2] It emphasized the studies of color and light which were central to his artistic style. This term is rarely used today. Divisionism, which is more commonly used, describes an early mode of Neo-Impressionist painting. It refers to the method of applying individual strokes of complementary and contrasting colors.[2] Unlike other designations of this era, the term 'Neo-Impressionism' was not given as a criticism.[2] Instead, it embraces Seurat's and his followers' ideals in their approach to art. Note: Pointillism merely describes a later technique based on divisionism in which dots of color instead of blocks of color are applied; Signac rejected this term's use as synonymous for divisionism.[8]

Local color: As the dominant element of the painting, local color refers to the true color of subjects, e.g. green grass or blue sky.

Direct sunlight: As appropriate, yellow-orange colors representing the sun's action would be interspersed with the natural colors to emulate the effect of direct sunlight.

Shadow: If lighting is only indirect, various other colors, such as blues, reds and purples, can be used to simulate the darkness and shadows.

Reflected light: An object which is adjacent to another in a painting could cast reflected colors onto it.

Contrast: To take advantage of Chevreul's theory of simultaneous contrast, contrasting colors might be placed in close proximity.

Charles Angrand, Couple dans la rue, 1887, oil on canvas, 38.5 x 33 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Charles Angrand, Couple dans la rue, 1887, oil on canvas, 38.5 x 33 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Théo van Rysselberghe, Portrait of Alice Sethe, 1888, Musée départemental Maurice Denis "The Priory", Saint-Germain-en-Laye

Théo van Rysselberghe, Portrait of Alice Sethe, 1888, Musée départemental Maurice Denis "The Priory", Saint-Germain-en-Laye

Camille Pissarro, Hay harvest at Eragny-sur-Epte, 1889, oil on canvas, 73 × 60 cm, private collection

Camille Pissarro, Hay harvest at Eragny-sur-Epte, 1889, oil on canvas, 73 × 60 cm, private collection

Georges Lemmen, The Beach at Heist), 1891, oil on panel, 37.5 x 45.7 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Georges Lemmen, The Beach at Heist), 1891, oil on panel, 37.5 x 45.7 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Henri-Edmond Cross, Les cyprès à Cagnes, 1908, oil on canvas, 81 x 100 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Henri-Edmond Cross, Les cyprès à Cagnes, 1908, oil on canvas, 81 x 100 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Henri Matisse, Luxe, Calme et Volupté, 1904, oil on canvas, 98 x 118.5 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Henri Matisse, Luxe, Calme et Volupté, 1904, oil on canvas, 98 x 118.5 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Robert Antoine Pinchon, La Seine à Rouen au crépuscule, 1905, oil on paperboard, 65 x 54 cm, private collection

Robert Antoine Pinchon, La Seine à Rouen au crépuscule, 1905, oil on paperboard, 65 x 54 cm, private collection

Jean Metzinger, Femme au Chapeau, c.1906, oil on canvas, 44.8 x 36.8 cm, Korban Art Foundation

Jean Metzinger, Femme au Chapeau, c.1906, oil on canvas, 44.8 x 36.8 cm, Korban Art Foundation

Robert Delaunay, Portrait de Metzinger, 1906, oil on canvas, 55 x 43 cm

Robert Delaunay, Portrait de Metzinger, 1906, oil on canvas, 55 x 43 cm

Post-Impressionism

Stippling

Pointillism

similar technique in music

Micromontage

Ferretti-Bocquillon, Marina; et al. (2001). . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 0870999982.

Signac, 1863-1935

Floyd, Ratliff (1992). Paul Signac and Color in Neo-Impressionism. New York, New York: Rockefeller University Press.  0-87470-050-7.

ISBN

Herbert, Robert. , New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991. ISBN 9780870996184.

Georges Seurat, 1859–1891

Herbert, Robert, Neo-Impressionism, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, 1968, Library of Congress Card Catalogue Number: 68-16803

Herbert, Robert. , New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991. ISBN 9780870996184.

Georges Seurat, 1859-1891

Hutton, John G. (2004). Neo-Impressionism and the Search for Solid Ground: Art, Science, and Anarchism in Fin-de-siecle France. : Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 0-8071-1823-0.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Ward, Martha (1996). Pissarro, Neo-impressionism and the Spaces of the Avant-Garde Chicago, Illinois: Chicago University Press.  0-226-87324-2.

ISBN

Haslett, Carrie (2002). Neo-Impressionism: Artists on the Edge. Portland, Oregon: Portland Museum of Art.  0-916857-30-1.*Blanc, Charles. The Grammar of Painting and Engraving. Chicago: S.C. Griggs and Company, 1891. [1].

ISBN

Block, Jane. "Neo-Impressionism." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. .

[2]

Block, Jane. "Pointillism." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. .

[3]

ed. Seurat in Perspective. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1978. ISBN 0-13-807115-2.

Broude, Norma

. Paul Signac. Greenwich, CT: New York Graphic Society, 1971. ISBN 0-8212-0482-3.

Cachin, Françoise

Clement, Russell T., and Annick Houzé. Neo-impressionist painters: a sourcebook on Georges Seurat, Camille Pissarro, Paul Signac, Théo van Rysselberghe, Henri Edmond Cross, Charles Angrand, Maximilien Luce, and Albert Dubois-Pillet. Westport, CT: Greenwood P, 1999.  0-313-30382-7.

ISBN

. London: Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden, 1860

Chevreul, Michel Eugène. The Principles of Harmony and Contrast of Colors

Dorra, Henri. Symbolist Art Theories: A Critical Anthology. Berkeley: U of California, 1994.

Gage, John. "The Technique of Seurat: A Reappraisal." The Art Bulletin 69 (Sep. 1987): 448-54. JSTOR. .

[4]

Hutton, John G. Neo-impressionism and the search for solid ground: art, science, and anarchism in fin-de-siècle France. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State UP, 1994.  0-8071-1823-0.

ISBN

Puppo, Dario del. "Il Quarto Stato." Science and Society, Vol. 58, No. 2, pp. 13, 1994.

Meighan, Judith. "In Praise of Motherhood: The Promise and Failure of Painting for Social Reform in Late-Nineteenth-Century Italy." Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2002.

"Radical Light: Italy's Divisionist Painters." History Today, August 2008.

Rewald, John. Georges Seurat. New York: Wittenborn & Co., 1946.

Roslak, Robyn. Neo-Impressionism and Anarchism in Fin-de-Siecle France: Painting, Politics and Landscape. N.p., 2007.

Roslak, Robyn S. (1991). "The Politics of Aesthetic Harmony: Neo-Impressionism, Science, and Anarchism". The Art Bulletin. 73 (3). JSTOR: 381–390. :10.2307/3045811. ISSN 0004-3079. JSTOR 3045811.

doi

Signac, Paul. D’Eugène Delacroix au Neo-Impressionnisme. 1899. .

[5]

Winkfield, Trevor. "The Signac Syndrome." Modern Painters Autumn 2001: 66-70.

Tim Parks on divisionist movement of painters in Italy