neo-impressionism

neo-impressionism
neo-impressionist, n., adj.
/nee'oh im presh"euh niz'euhm/, n. (sometimes cap.) Fine Arts.
the theory and practice of a group of post-impressionists of about the middle 1880s, characterized chiefly by a systematic juxtaposition of dots or points of pure color according to a concept of the optical mixture of hues. Cf. pointillism.
[1890-95; NEO- + IMPRESSIONISM]

* * *

Movement in French painting of the late 19th century, in reaction against the realism of Impressionism.

The Neo-Impressionists, led by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, applied paint to canvas in dots of contrasting pigments, scientifically chosen so that adjacent dots would blend from a distance into a single colour. The technique is known as pointillism. Whereas the Impressionists captured the fugitive effects of colour and light, the Neo-Impressionists crystallized them into immobile monumentality.

* * *

      movement in French painting of the late 19th century that reacted against the empirical realism of Impressionism by relying on systematic calculation and scientific theory to achieve predetermined visual effects. Whereas the Impressionist painters spontaneously recorded nature in terms of the fugitive effects of colour and light, the Neo-Impressionists applied scientific optical principles of light and colour to create strictly formalized compositions. Neo-Impressionism was led by Georges Seurat (Seurat, Georges), who was its original theorist and most significant artist, and by Paul Signac (Signac, Paul), also an important artist and the movement's major spokesman. Other Neo-Impressionist painters were Henri-Edmond Cross, Albert Dubois-Pillet, Maximilien Luce, Théo Van Rysselberghe, and, for a time, the Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro (Pissarro, Camille). The group founded a Société des Artistes Indépendants in 1884.

      The terms divisionism and pointillism originated in descriptions of Seurat's painting technique, in which paint was applied to the canvas in dots of contrasting pigment. A calculated arrangement of coloured dots, based on optical science, was intended to be perceived by the retina as a single hue. The entire canvas was covered with these dots, which defined form without the use of lines and bathed all objects in an intense, vibrating light. In each picture the dots were of a uniform size, calculated to harmonize with the overall size of the painting. In place of the hazy forms of Impressionism, those of Neo-Impressionism had solidity and clarity and were simplified to reveal the carefully composed relationships between them. Though the light quality was as brilliant as that of Impressionism, the general effect was of immobile, harmonious monumentality, a crystallization of the fleeting light of Impressionism.

      Signac's later work showed an increasingly spontaneous use of the divisionist technique, which was more consistent with his poetic sensibility. Seurat, however, continued to adopt a theoretical approach to the study of various pictorial and technical problems, including a reduction of the expressive qualities of colour and form to scientific formulas. By the 1890s the influence of Neo-Impressionism was waning, but it was important in the early stylistic and technical development of several artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including Vincent van Gogh (Gogh, Vincent van), Paul Gauguin (Gauguin, Paul), Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de), and Henri Matisse (Matisse, Henri).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Neo-impressionism — A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte Artist Georges Seurat Year 1884–1886 Type Oil on …   Wikipedia

  • neo-impressionism — noun Usage: often capitalized N&I Etymology: French néo impressionisme, from né ne + impressionisme impressionism Date: 1892 a late 19th century French art theory and practice characterized by an attempt to make impressionism more precise in form …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • neo-impressionism — “+ noun Usage: often capitalized N&I Etymology: French néo impressionisme, from né ne + impressionisme impressionism : art whose exponents are critical of impressionism and seek a carefully integrated pictorial structure involving simplified and… …   Useful english dictionary

  • neo-Impressionism — noun a late 19th century movement in French painting which sought to improve on Impressionism through a systematic approach to form and colour, particularly using pointillist technique. Derivatives neo Impressionist adjective &noun …   English new terms dictionary

  • neo-impressionism — ne•o im•pres•sion•ism or Ne•o Im•pres•sion•ism [[t]ˌni oʊ ɪmˈprɛʃ əˌnɪz əm[/t]] n. fia a late 19th century French artistic theory and practice, characterized chiefly by the use of pointillist techniques • Etymology: 1890–95 ne o im•pres′sion•ist …   From formal English to slang

  • neo-impressionism — /ˌnioʊ ɪmˈprɛʃənɪzəm/ (say .neeoh im preshuhnizuhm) noun a movement in art in the 1880s and 1890s, characterised by the use of pointillism in the application of colour and by strict and formal composition …  

  • Neo-Dada — is a label applied primarily to audio and visual art that has similarities in method or intent to earlier Dada artwork. It is the foundation of Fluxus, Pop Art and Nouveau réalisme.[1] Neo Dada is exemplified by its use of modern materials,… …   Wikipedia

  • Neo-Fauvism — was a poetic style of painting from the mid 1920s proposed as a challenge to Surrealism.[1] The magazine Cahiers d Art was launched in 1926 and its writers mounted a challenge to the Surrealist practice of automatism by seeing it not in terms of… …   Wikipedia

  • Neo-expressionism — is a style of modern painting and sculpture that emerged in the late 1970s and dominated the art market until the mid 1980s. Related to American Lyrical Abstraction of the 60s and 70s, Bay Area Figurative School of the 50s and 60s, the… …   Wikipedia

  • Impressionism — was a 19th century art movement that began as a loose association of Paris based artists exhibiting their art publicly in the 1860s. The name of the movement is derived from the title of a Claude Monet work, Impression, Sunrise (Impression,… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”