What makes this movement stand 

out from the rest

1880 – 1920 ( The Epoch when Philosophy changed Art and Art changed Philosophy)

History has long been changed and altered by different and new fascinating events and shifts in the way people thought and lived their lives. This is no different, I shall aim to compare and contrast an artefact from the Post impressionisms Era and give incite as to the ideas shaped in the creation, and overall concept of the art at that time. Through analysis and close scrutiny it shall be uncovered as to whether the way of thinking was or has been the same or different despite the ages or from times past.

When Art or famous painters come to mind we immediately thing of famous paintings such as the Mona Lisa without knowing from which time period they were from or even who the person behind the artpiece was. If we were to give specific times or ask people about important shifts in human history people would immediately jump to:

• When man discovered fire
• When man learnt how to fly
• When man went to space
• When man discovered gravity
• when man learnt about the different continents and wanted to explore them.

All these discoveries were and still are as important as they are made to be, but have you thought about if "man could not read or write?" or "if we could not identify pictures", draw or express ourselves... Life would be so bland, uninteresting and not much fun to be frank. Nevertheless man wouldn't be where it would be without a lot except for it didn't have "Art"

Post Impressionism artwork by Vincent Van Gogh
Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette, 1885
Source:wikimedia.org

Contemporary Artwork by Chang Park,
End of American Capitalism
Source: pinimg.com

Source: identifythisart.com/
The bather/ Paul Cezanne

Example of Pointilism
Source: Identifythisart.com | Breakfast by Paul Signag

Example of Divisionism
Source: globalbritannica.com | Grandcamp,
 Evening, by Georges Seurat, 1885 

Source: quotescover.com

Lets talk about the time between 1880 – 1920 a stage in time where thinking was challenged and the unimaginable became a reality on canvas. The post impressionism Era represents art in a way where there was a new way of portraying what you felt about your world and the environment you lived in through your art (theartstory, 2016). This category of artists featured mostly European Artists especially from France with the exception of Vincent Van Gogh a Dutch artist who lived and worked in France. Notable artists from this time include: to name a few

Vincent Van Gogh

Paul Cezanne

Paul Gauguin

Pierre Bonnard

Henri Rousseau

Georges Seurat

( identifyart.com ) tells us that unlike most art movements the Post impressionism era was easily identifiable and not hard to decipher the message or intention of the artist which made it easy to relate to the audience.

The Post Imp (Post impressionism) era was easily recognisable because of a few markers such as: Artists painting in thick outlines around their subjects or figures to show thickness. it also became clear that they decided to pay more close detail to the shapes and many different corners and properties of objects giving close attention to precise forms to bring out the subject/subjects on the canvas. For example in this painting Paul Cezanne gave emphasis of the many different shapes and body parts very well using thick outlines in parts such as the feet, arms and head.

Artists experimented with a new way of painting, Pointilsm to be precise. Pointilism was a painting made entirely of big and smaller dots with colour. these paintings were in such precise detail you could only notice that it was comprising of dots only in sections such as the landscape or background of the artpiece. Pointilism was also a sub category of divisionism (which was painting with small brush strokes as opposed to painting with small dots in Pointilism) (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010). We can see how this new way of potraying art brought upon exploration of detail and brought out the most realistic and beautiful vibrant artworks that captured the attention of the world then and even until now. Whether it was dots or brush strokes used this Era saw the most unique and well composed imagery that brought a whole new way of seeing and making art for the world to follow and admire as it was going to stay.

Comparison between Post Impressionist artwork 

versus Contemporary artwork

Van Gogh Skeleton With Cigarette Analysis  (Realism)

In Van Gogh's oil painting we see that divisionism is present because of the visible texture of brush strokes all across the artwork. The colours used are dull whites and yellowy greys which is a pretty realistc colour pallete which brings out the shadows, shapes, and form of the skeleton. although the definition of the neck bones and chest cavity is not that sharp or realistic it seems that the Divisionism technique was not the best chosen media for this subject. It leaves a lot to be imagined especially seeing that the skeleton has a cigarette in its mouth and appears to be smoking the viewer cannot tell or distinguish from a distance what is the smoke and what is the cigarette. The context of this skeleton signifies death, but death through addiction. There is been a long standing problem with addiction especially with smokers, who often cannot quit nicotine addiction result in contracting cancer then without treatment leading to death.

Chang Park Skeleton With Rose Analysis (Realism)

Chang Park's digital painting using the advancements of 21st Century industrialisation looks at a skeleton sniffing a Rose and wearing a full suit , buttoned up shirt and tie sniffing a rose. The artist definitely takes us in with the representation of a human being/ businessman in this skeleton form drawing us in with the detailed skeleton with intense definition in the shadows, folds, line work of his art piece. The title suggests " The End of American Capitalism" suggests that the artist may be of that country or be in close contact with the country as he suggests America represented by the neatly dressed skeleton figure sniffing a rose. A rose being a known symbol for beauty, balance ( whatsyoursign, 2005-17) tells us. Capitalism which is an economic system where distribution of goods and services is characterised by a private or corporate ownership where it encourages the economy to trade in a "free market"(webster, 2017)


Although both paintings are different in the way of execution it shows the push from the 1800s to now in the 2000s. the push from technique, execution, context and skills has made a difference in how artists see and represent the world around them. Post impressionism was the backbone of a vast ammount of painting techniques now seen today in technology where computer programs have now mastered, learnt and adapted "old school " information and perfected it so that the problems, confusion or glitches have been rectified. This means that artists do not have to mix paints or blend colours in order to come up with the best representation of reality. Art in the 21st (contemporary era) is refined and precise and has evolved into many more sub genres all originating from past movements, that is why it is almost incomparable because the new has taken from the old , made it better and fixed all the mistakes.

Bibliography

Post Impressionism 

"Post Impressionism Art movement 1880-1920, 2016", http://www.identifythisart.com/art-movements-styles/modern-art/post-impressionism-art-movement/
Accessed on 18 February 2016

http://www.theartstory.org/movement-post-impressionism.htm

Accessed on 20 February 2016

Van Gogh Quote

"Fresh Quotes Pictures", 2016, https://quotescover.com/vincent-van-gogh-quote-about-passion/app/high-resolution-image

Accessed on 22 February 2016

Divisionism Definition

"Divisionism", 10 June 2010, The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica
https://global.britannica.com/art/divisionism

Accessed on 22 February 2016

Van Gogh Skull With Cigarrette

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Vincent_van_Gogh_-_Head_of_a_skeleton_with_a_burning_cigarette_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/362px-Vincent_van_Gogh_-_Head_of_a_skeleton_with_a_burning_cigarette_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

Accessed on 22 February 2016

Chang Park Skull with Rose

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/7b/fb/61/7bfb611c828919734df7ad8685f85148.jpg

Accessed on 23 February 2016

Definition Of Capitalism

Webster, Mirriam, "Capitalism"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capitalism
Accessed on 23 February 2016