Post-Impressionism is an art trend that originated in France between the final Impressionist exhibition and the beginning of Fauvism in 1905. The trend developed in response to Impressionism, which emphasised realism in its portrayal of light and colour. Post-Impressionists extended Impressionism while rejecting its limitations; artists continued to use bold colours, a heavy hand with the paint, and realistic subject matter, but they tended to place more emphasis on geometric forms, distort forms for expressive effect, and use unnatural, seemingly random colour palettes. In this article, we’ll discuss some qualities of most impressionist artists and their paintings and post impressionism characteristics.
1. What is Impressionism?
In the early 1860s, Claude Monet and other Paris-based artists established the Impressionist style. Though it might be stated that John Constable, in Britain circa 1813–17, pioneered the practice of painting on the spot due to his ambition to capture nature in a realistic way. The impressionists discovered that they could capture the fleeting effects of sunlight by painting in the open air rather than in a studio, and by working swiftly in front of their subjects. Because of this, they started to pay more attention to the way that natural light and colour were interacting with one another, as well as the way that these factors were affecting the always-changing landscape.
In an attempt to capture the transient nature of light, the artist’s brushwork accelerated and became fragmented into small dabs. And this art form was given the name Impressionism. In the next segments, we will see the qualities of most impressionist artists and their paintings. (See What are the Characteristics of Ancient Art?)
2. What is the History of Impressionism?
In the middle of the 19th century, the art being made was very traditional. Artists made pieces that would fit into the traditional salons and exhibitions that were being held at the time. But a small group of artists got very bored with the kind of art they had to make and started to make art about other things. The outdoors became very appealing to artists all of a sudden, and they began to paint what became known as En Plein air paintings, which are paintings done outside.
After the Salon turned down these new, experimental works of art, the Paris-based artists quickly formed their own group, called Société Anonyme Coopératives des Artistes Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs. This group was active in the 1870s and 1880s. This was done so they could show how their style was changing and show their art freely in a place where they were fully accepted. Basically, this was a big turning point for the movement, and the Impressionist style was born.
3. What are Some of the Characteristics of Impressionist Paintings?
Impressionism is a painting style that originated in France during the mid-to-late 19th century. The characteristics of Impressionist paintings include,
- Small, apparent brushstrokes that convey the basic impression of shape,
- Unblended colour,
- and an emphasis on depicting natural light accurately.
4. Three of the Most Prominent Artist of the Impressionist Movement
The qualities of most impressionist artists and their paintings utilised a new approach. Three of the most prominent artists of the Impressionist movement are:
- Manet, Edouard
- Monet, Claude
- Pierre-Auguste Renoir
5. What are Some Qualities of Most Impressionist Artists and their Paintings?

Some qualities of most impressionist artists and their paintings are a part of Impressionism that depict a split-second of life, a fleeting instant of time on canvas, and it includes,
- The impression.
- Strong brush strokes
- No use of the colour black
- No paint mixing
- Luminaire
- The impact of photography
- Painting Outdoors (En Plein air)
- Effects of Japanese Printing
- Everyday Life Paintings
- Landscapes
- Small Paintings
6. What are the Characteristics of Impressionism in Music?
Impressionism in music is a classical composition style that started in the late Romantic period from 1890 to 1920. Its goal was to create moods, feelings, and atmospheres by experimenting with timbre and moving away from traditional harmonic progressions.
Characteristics of Impressionist Music:
- Whole tone scales only have whole steps and don’t have a real tonal centre.
- Pentatonic scales made up of five notes are used to make melodies that sound like dreams.
- Parallel motion is a type of melodic motion in which all voices move in the same direction.
- Upper chord extensions are chords with notes above the three basic notes of a triad, such as ninths, elevenths, thirteenths, and other harmonic additions.
- Musical modes and borrowed scales from church modes like Lydian and Dorian, as well as scales from other tonal systems from around the world, were often used in impressionist compositions to make the music sound strange and exotic to the listener.
7. How did Post Impressionism influence Modern Art?
The Post-Impressionists didn’t agree with Impressionism’s focus or the qualities of most impressionist artists and their paintings as it was capturing light and colour in a natural way. Instead, they wanted more symbolic content, formal order, and structure to be the focus. But, like the Impressionists, they put an emphasis on how fake the picture was. Check out What are the Three Main Principles of Greek Aesthetics?
8. What are Some Post Impressionism Characteristics of Art?
The post impressionism characteristics depict some of the qualities of most impressionist artists and their paintings:
- Subjectivity
- Real-life subject matter
- Manipulation of colour or geometric design.
Even though each artist’s style was different, there were a few things that all post-Impressionist works had in common.
- Patterned brushstrokes: post-Impressionists often used short strokes of broken colours. This style, which was later called pointillism, was inspired by this idea.
- Colours that don’t look like nature: Colours were used more to show an emotion or point of view than to show the subject matter accurately.
- Symbolism: Post-Impressionist artists often used abstraction and geometric shapes in unexpected ways. Paul Gauguin helped come up with synthetism, a way to draw objects from memory using two-dimensional shapes.
9. What are the Qualities of Post-Impressionist Art?
Post-impressionist art has shapes and intense and pale colours. Even though they all had their own styles, most post-impressionists focused on abstract shapes and patterns when they put paint on the canvas.
10. What are Neo Impressionism Art Characteristics?
The divisionist method is what makes neo-impressionism, also called pointillism. Divisionism tried to make light and colour paintings like impressionism more scientific by using an optical mix of colours. (See What are Characteristics of Egyptian Sculpture?)
11. What was Emphasized by Post-Impressionist Painters?
Post-Impressionists added to Impressionism while rejecting its limits. The artists kept using bright colours, thick paint, and real-life subjects, but they were more likely to focus on geometric forms, distort forms for an expressive effect, and use colours that didn’t look natural or like they were chosen at random.
12. What is the Difference between Impressionism and Post-Impressionism?
Impressionism started in Paris at the end of the 19th century as a response to how quickly the city was changing. It was characterised by bright colours, spontaneous brushstrokes, an accurate depiction of how the quality of light changed, and subjects that were inspired by modern city life.
Post-Impressionism was a reaction to the flatness of Impressionism, but it also took on some of its traits, like the use of bright colours, the general freedom from traditional subjects, and the textured painting style. Post-Impressionist artists focused a lot more on symbols and abstraction, using distorted shapes and brighter, less natural colours to show how they felt. (Also read What are Western Art Examples?)