The Post-Impressionism art movement was an extension of Impressionism from the mid-1800's. Art critic Roger Fry coined the term "Post-Impressionism" in 1910 because he wanted to give a overall non-committal name to this new direction in art.

Seurat: La Parade

One of the new directions in Post-Impressionism was the technique of Pointillism, in which the overall painting was constructed from tiny dots of color. Georges Seurat and Vincent Van Gogh are two of the main artists who practiced Pointillism.

The artists who practiced Post-Impressionism were a bit younger than the Impressionists and didn't want to be confined by some of the old rules. Many of the Post-Impressionist painted alone, yet exhibited together. Cezanne and Gauguin are two of the painters that isolated themselves while working only to flock together later.

A few of the Post-Impressionism painters decided that cold objective form had to give way to more personal subjects and spiritual subjects such as portraiture. Most of the Post-Impressionists were French except Van Gogh.

Like the Impressionism, Post-Impressionism rejected the grandiose and focused on the more banal features of landscapes and the still-life. The Post-Impressionists also moved forward by focusing on other modern subjects such as brothels, restaurants, music halls and café's some bathed in the odd colors of artificial lights at night.

When Cubism came along this was seen as a fresh start and an end to the Post-Impressionism movement. Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso heralded in this fresh and definable art movement.