By the late nineteenth century, the Impressionist movement had reached an apparent standstill. The painters had mastered creating art directly from nature, and translating a purely visual experience onto canvas. However, there was growing dissatisfaction within the group—many artists were hungry for new ideas. Doubts began to surface about Impressionism’s lack of a solid methodology and many Impressionists came to see short-comings in the style of painting. Artists such as Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat, and Vincent van Gogh wanted to strengthen Impressionist technique by incorporating another layer. What transpired was a new style of highly personal art that reinvigorated and redefined the expressive ability of Impressionist art.  

The term “Post-Impressionism” was coined in 1910 by renowned British art critic Roger Fry when he tried to describe the diverse art produced after Impressionism. Fry believed that the Post-Impressionists were a generation of artists who consciously adapted the formal elements inherent in art—color, line, composition—as the means to convey or express emotion. 

This group of artists did not reject Impressionist theories. In fact, they adapted the tenets of Impressionism while extends his limitations. They believed in tradition and paid heed to the teachings of their predecessors. The artists preserved the Impressionist emphasis on pure, brilliant colors, freedom from traditional subject matter, and defining form with short brush strokes of broken color. 

The most obvious difference in the two styles can be seen in the Post-Impressionist reaction against the Impressionists’ casual attitude and purely instinctive conception of art. According to Cézanne, the Post-Impressionists sought to “make something solid out of Impressionism, and permanent, like museum art.” The method that Post-Impressionists introduced was rational, founded on strict rules and principles. They took what they learned from the Impressionists to another level, imbedding their paintings with more passion, more emotion, more expression.

Post-Impressionists pursued unique subject matter that could convey a more personal, spiritual expression. Through bold, fantastic colors and meaningful brushstrokes they added emotion and symbolic meaning. Gauguin adapted artistic forms, like line and color, to symbolically deal with ideas of life and death. Van Gogh implemented vivid color and vigorous brushwork to express his emotions. They filtered reality through their personal vision, searching for deeper meaning in their art. What transpired was a reinvigorated version of Impressionist art that helped form a basis for several contemporary trends as well as early twentieth century modernism.