Category:Post-impressionism

Post`-im*pres"sion*ism, n. (painting)

Defn: in the broadest sense, the theory or practice of any of several Groups of recent painters, or of these groups taken collectively, Whose work and theories have in common a tendency to reaction against The scientific and naturalistic character of impressionism and neo- Impressionism. In a strict sense the term post-impressionism is used To denote the effort at self-expression, rather than representation, Shown in the work of cézanne, matisse, etc.; but it is more broadly Used to include cubism, the theory or practice of a movement in both Painting and sculpture which lays stress upon volume as the Important attribute of objects and attempts its expression by the use Of geometrical figures or solids only; and futurism, a theory or Practice which attempts to place the observer within the picture and To represent simultaneously a number of consecutive movements and Impressions. In practice these theories and methods of the post- Impressionists change with great rapidity and shade into one another, So that a picture may be both cubist and futurist in character. They Tend to, and sometimes reach, a condition in which both Representation and traditional decoration are entirely abolished and A work of art becomes a purely subjective expression in an arbitrary And personal language.