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How to use this content:
As listed on the “Start Here” page for this unit, one of the unit objectives is “Identify Key Historical Facts” This objective will be assessed by the unit quiz. While reading and watching the content in the following links and videos, make note of historical facts and information so you can return to them as needed when working on the unit quiz. Be on the lookout for names of artists, influential people, artworks, important events, trends and values in the culture.
Post-Impressionism
The era referred to as Post-Impressionism is unique in the history of art, because the artists of this style are bound together by their differences, rather than their similarities. That is to say, the only unifying factor of this group is that they were seeking to move onward and upward from the style of the Impressionists. The modern world was a fast-moving landscape of progress and improvement, and these artists felt compelled to find a style that had a forward thinking artistic vision. But while they shared a motivation, they did not share stylistic qualities; each artist found their own way and satisfied their own unique vision. They might have been loners, and sometimes outcasts, but they were some of the most influential artists in the history of Western Art.
Link #1: Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon of La Grande Jatte
Link #2: Van Gogh Self Portrait
Link #3: Van Gogh bio
Link #4: Cezanne Intro
Link #5: Cezanne Still Life
Link #6: Fauvism
Link #7: Matisse, The Joy of Life
Link #8: Kandinsky Improvisation 28
Cubism
With artists seeking more and more highly individualized style, it was only a matter of time before there was one artistic invention that became a game-changer, a paradigm shifter. That was Cubism. Pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, elements of Cubism run throughout most of the art of the 20th Century.
Link #9: Inventing Cubism
Link #10: Picasso Desmoiselles D’Avingnon
Link #11: Picasso Guernica
American Abstraction
The ideas of Modernism in general, and Cubism in particular had great influence over many different styles and artists throughout the world. Georgia O’Keeffe is just one, famous, American example.
Link #12: O’Keeffe Black Iris
More Learning Resources
Remember, since we can’t cover everything about art in this class, these reading assignments are based on the choices I have made for what to include, but there is much more that has not been included. If you are interested in learning more, please remember that our primary source, the Khan Academy, has lots of other videos and articles that explore this time and culture even further. You can explore them at Khan Academy (Post-Impressionism) or SmartHistory (Post Impressionism).