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Anna Heath 13372365 Without Words

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Post-Impressionism

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Artists Inspire Artists, it is founded on the idea that artistic inspiration leads to inspirational art, and the greatest forms of creativity are often sparked by sharing in the creativity of others. Post impressionists inspired by the impressionists before them. However breaking free from the limitations of the impressionists to explore a deeper meaning to what they perceive in the world around them. Developing a range of personal styles

that influenced the 20th century, particularly expressionism.

Post-impressionism was a generation of avant-garde artists, located in France. Taking a whole lot of different approaches building on the advances of the impressionists before them.

The Post-Impressionists seen Art as a way of breaking free from the every day life, to dream and believe there is more to life than just what you see, they believe in the passionate emotions and moments that an individual experiences both mentally and physically. Dominated by eminent personalities. Leading this new judgment of the PostImpressionists, was the misunderstood mind of Vincent Van Gogh who sought to infuse his paintings with deeply felt impassioned emotions in order to portray the evil in men’s souls and the way the vine touches our daily experience communicating their ideals

of the beauty in life through his wonderfully executed paintings, exaggerating key elements of design to evoke a vibrant mood, depicted by the use of bright colours and capturing their perception every day life.

With every great creation their needs to be a spark of inspiration or motivation to create it, for the Post-Impressionists like van Gough it was the impressionists who drove the artists of this movement with the use of bright colours and capturing every day life.

“Love what you love” was Dutch painters Vincent Van Gogh artistic creed. Born in Holland Van Gogh was obsessed with religion and social service, a misfit who failed at one vocation after another, asking himself “there is someone inside me that could be useful, but

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art, consoling the unfortunate through realistic portraits of the working class life. In 1886 when Van Gogh discovered impressionism in Paris his work when under a total metamorphosis, switching from dark colours and social realist themes to a light drenched outdoor scene. Still a humanitarian proposing to sell some of his works for 40c each to brighten up the walls in workers homes. But he changed from trying to express the poetry hidden in peasants to portraying the healing power of nature, “these canvases will tell you what I cannot say in words, the health and fortifying power that I see in the country” he said C

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Even thought that Van Gogh adopted the broken brush strokes and bright colours of the impressionists his art was always original, he had a horror of an academic technique, claiming that he wanted to “paint incorrectly so that my untruth becomes more truthful than

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Van Goghs techniques the literal truth.” Van Gogh then basing his hole practices on the unorthodox use of colour to suggest any emotion of an artist temperament “What I am doing is not by accident (Van Gogh wrote) but because of real intention and purpose.” For all the dynamic force of Starry Night, the composition is carefully balanced the upward thrusting cypresses echo the vertical steeple each cutting across curving lateral lines of hill and sky. In both cases the vertical formes act as breaks, counterforces to prevent the eye from travelling out of the picture.

The dark cypresses also offset the bright moon in the opposite corner for a balanced effect; the formes of the objects determine the rhythmic flow of the brushstrokes, so that the overall effect is of expressive unity rather than chaos. Van Gogh’s works went on to inspire future generations of artists, how could you not be intrigued at the passion Van Gogh expresses through his works, his emphasis on natural elements such as light, movement, contrast, pattern that would later influence how artists would express emotion through each one of these elements in particular the Expressionists.

Expressionism emerged simultaneously in various cities across Germany as a response to a widespread anxiety about humanity's increasingly discordant relationship with the world and accompanying lost feelings of authenticity and spirituality much like the works created in the post Impressionist movement, Expressionism was inspired most heavily by the Symbolist currents in late nineteenth-century by the works of, Vincent van Gogh, proved particularly influential to the Expressionists, encouraging the

Expressionism

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Elements distortion of form and the deployment of strong colors to convey a variety of anxieties and yearnings, its influence felt throughout the remainder of the century.

Expressionist artists often employed swirling, swaying, and exaggeratedly executed brushstrokes in the depiction of their subjects. These techniques were meant to convey the turgid emotional state of the artist reacting to the anxieties of the modern world, one particular artists stands out from the rest, Dennis Velco.

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“ I am striving to create individual pieces that are their own, yet can also be placed next to one another or in a series and be interpreted with a deeper and richer context and dialog. Every viewer brings their own life’s teaching, history, prejudices, attitudes and views that I collectively call filters.” Dennis speaks provocatively yet he levees a since of neutrality in his works,

leveraging the filters, to evoke the full spectrum of emotions and leaves opportunity to imagine, thus changing the judgment of his works to each individual who views it. Dennis works are inspired by the passionate expression from the Post Impressionist movement “I claim t be a contemporary Post-Impressionist” Dennis states. Conveying his strong emotions and creative flow he uses his fingers for tools, “ I don’t use brushes or other tools. They make me feel disconnected from my work and hinder my creative energy.” The effect this technique has on the painting is most effective there is immense texture, you can feel the flow of creative energy from the bright colour used and since the expression he is conveying in his works. He creates passionate emotion through his works he states” my “art of mind” state as similar to the intense connection when two people are in love... When they are soulfully looking

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into one another’s eyes and in emotional, physical and vocal rhythmic sync with one another. “ By taking this deep emotion to canvas creates a rely exiting and inspiring peace much like the Post- Impressionists before him, both movements use their creative energy to flow onto the canvas to convey a sense of self.

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Both Post-impressionism and Expressionism used each communicative element light, color, shape, form, texture, contrast, movement, balance, hierarchy to convey their fervent emotions in response to the world around them. There are strong similarities in the way both movements convey and express their works, the art came from within, rather than from a depiction of the external world around them, and the standard for assessing the quality of a work of art became the character of the artist's feelings rather than an

analysis of the composition like the Post impressionists before them. Although these movements are similar it is most evident there are differences in both movements, the Post Impressionist depicted every day life, exaggerating key elements to evoke certain emotions or creating a provocative atmosphere, the Expressionists not necessarily focusing on every day life but the simple Post- Impressionist inspired by the bright colours and the way the impressionists captured the world around them, however later to break free from its limitations.

The Post impressionist movement had a dramatic influence on modern art styles and in particular the Expressionist movement. Both Post impressionism and Expressionism shared many similarities that went on to inspire many artists to express their

emotion, with there dramatic employed swirling, swaying, and exaggeratedly executed brushstrokes in the depiction of their subjects conveying the turgid emotional state of the artist reacting to the anxieties of the modern world, capturing their emotion in their paintings using elements of communicative language to do so. Thus creating new standards in the judgment of art. Art was now meant to come forth from within the artist, rather than from a depiction of the external visual world.

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Research report Anna Heath 2014 / Design & communications