Commencing with Impressionism during the mid-19th century, which started the artistic movement that dared to challenge the standards of the Academy in Paris, France, Post-Impressionism was born. Of course, they came out kicking and screaming challenging their predecessor's initial movement, and grew mainly in France roughly around  1885 through about 1905. During this “Belle-Epoque”  time in Paris, there was a tremendous amount of development and change that was being expressed through visual art at the time. Paul Cezanne (1839-1906), was one of the oldest along with Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) and  Georges Seurat (1859-1891) that blazed the trail for Post-Impressionism allowing the door to open wide, cementing the future for modern art. With this fresh new vision of art, we saw a strong use of color to create shapes, which married the aesthetics and emotions that were being expressed by the artists onto their canvas. No longer were these artists just repeating what they saw, but were now conveying their emotions of what they were feeling while looking at their subject onto their canvas. These new modern artists expressed themselves with the use of thick, impasto, paint creating geometrical shapes that contained their expression of color and light.  

                               Post-Impressionist Woman

This choice of painting may not be the best representation of Post-Impressionism, but I wanted to represent the women who helped shape Post-impressionism. It is evident that there are not a lot of women representing art during this time in general, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any women painting the Post-Impression style. This oil on wood panel painted by Ethel Carrick was done in 1907 in Paris, France showing a group of women socializing and shopping at the flower market. Since it was painted by a woman, it would be typical that the subject matter is portraying something to do with domestic issues or shopping.  Most modern art classes wouldn’t mention this artist, but after looking at her work, we can see the main characteristics of Post-Impressionism. In the art, we see the impasto use of paint, boldly applying thick brush strokes of color, creating geometrical shapes that form the subject. This artwork was done with minimal detail, only allowing the impression of what you are seeing by thickly applying the color to create the atmosphere. The use of color and light played within the shapes form the painting, creating the artist's interpretation of what they are feeling while painting. 

Lorena Fabbri
Art 312/ 2022
Post-Impressionism

As Post-Impressism continued to influence Western Europe, even after the death of the founding fathers, women in Paris and around the world were also influenced by this evolution in art. As Ethel Carrick was inspired by these masters in Paris, so too did this inspiration travel to Katherine Dreier in America. Eventually, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism made their way to the Americas, and one painting that was inspired by the Post-Impressionism style is Drier’s Landscape with Figures in Woods painted in c. 1911-12. Here Dreier demonstrates a less objective approach to what she is painting while showing more expression of feelings within the painting. The use of color forming geometrical shapes is evident along with the expressive use of brush strokes creating abstraction within the subject matter. In this painting, we can see the direct influence of Van Gogh and Cezanne, capturing the essence of the scene along with the emotional feeling being conveyed on canvas. Having been painted by an American woman during this time period is evidence of the lasting influence the early Post-Impressionist eventually would have around the world. Even 25 years after the first Post-Impressionist art was introduced, artists still continue this influence with their creative imagination.

                                Driving Post-Impressionism

While Post-Impressionism was at the forefront of abstraction in France, by creating an illusion using shapes and

forms with color, across the pond in America Henry Ford was making cars. In 1907 Henry Ford created the Model T, and by making this car he invented the very first assembly line. With this assembly line, he was able to mass produce these cars making it possible to sell them at a cheaper price allowing more lower-income people the affordability of owning a car. Now all this was going on while modern art was making its moves, and now we see that the modernization movement has been coinciding with the industrial and capitalist movements. There are many ways in which this historical event shaped the art movements afterward, for example, it would change the way art is transported in the future. Besides using cars to move art around the country, it also started many subject matters for many artists that followed. A big industrial revolution around art happened early in the 20th century, with murals showcasing the evolution of the machine. Cars have also evolved into an art form of their own and created a movement that eventually inspired and shaped the way art evolved.

Five years before Ethel Carrick painted Flower Market in 1907, Emile Zola died of mysterious circumstances 

following some legal battles. He was a French journalist, novelist, and playwright during the “Belle Epoque” era 

in France, and used his writing to help liberate the French politically from oppression. He was nominated twice 

for the Nobel Peace prize in 1901 and in 1902 the year he died. Zola garnered large attention after writing

“J’Accuse!” In this opinion in the newspaper, he helped defend a Jewish soldier from a court marshal after he was 

wrongfully accused by an officer of higher ranking. Because of Zola's article, it was possible for the public to become 

aware of the situations since they were not normally reported. Since he was defending a Jew, Zola got a lot of negative responses from the military and government. This defiance was the first of its kind and his article is regarded as the manifestation of power for the intellects in helping to give the public an opinion and voice. In the end, Zola and his wife were eventually found dead in their house due to carbon monoxide poisoning. A chimney cleaner was paid to cover 

Zolas chimney, causing the death of him and his wife.

still find the form of the violin. The color palette was also consistent with neutral colors of black, grey, and brown in order to make the painting appear more flat which goes against more renaissance styles of using more approaches to perspective. When it comes to understanding cubism, a painting like this especially with Braque’s work allows the viewer to pay attention to more than just the actual subject. His work allows the viewer to see more attention to style and techniques that further inspired the idea of this art movement.