Luxe Beat Magazine NOVEMBER 2014 | Page 84

Neo-Impressionism
And The Dream Of Realities
At The Phillips Collection

D

uring the late 1800s,
painters in Europe were
in search of new ways
to express themselves.
Impressionism was a major
movement that came to prominence
during the 1870s and 1880s. Shortly
thereafter, Neo-Impressionism
made its entry. The term “NeoImpressionism” was coined by French
art critic, Félix Fénéon, in 1886 to
describe an exciting art movement
founded by artist Georges Seurat
and his friends.
In 1886, Seurat and this new
group of artists presented its
first exhibition as the Société des
Artistes Indépendants (Salon des
Indépendants), in Paris. Seurat’s
iconic painting, “A Sunday Afternoon
on the Island of La Grande Jatte,”
was featured in the exhibition,
and marked the beginning of this
dynamic movement that also
included Paul Signac, Camille
Pissarro, among other masters.

By Renee Phillips

Pointillism, Imagination,
and Symbolism

Pointillism is the style most often
associated with this new artistic
direction because it was the first
technique that dominated the
movement. Characterized by the use
of dots, Pointillism provided a sense
of compositional organization. It
also transpired during the scientific
development of optic and color
BELOW: Paul Signac, Place des Lices,
Saint-Tropez, Opus 242, 1893. Oil
on canvas, 25 3/4 x 32 1/4 in.
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh.
Acquired through the generosity
of the Sarah Mellon Scaife Family.
Photograph © 2014 Carnegie
Museum of Art, Pittsburgh.

Georges Lemmen, Portrait of Jan Toorop, 1886. Chalk on paper, 23 x 17 in.
Collection Museum de Fundatie, Heino/Wijhe en Zwolle, The Netherlands.

perceptions at the time, particularly
that of Michel Eugène Chevreul’s
development of color theory.

and tangible form.

There were other significant factors
that played key roles in shaping the
Neo-Impressionist style. Together,
Neo-Impressionist painters and
Symbolist writers, poets and
composers launched a fruitful
ongoing dialogue about the role
of the imagination in art. Focus
changed to the inner world of
dreams, intangible reality and
spiritualism, which was a radical
departure from previous artists who
focused on communicating the visual
world through exact representation

“Neo-Impressionism and the Dream
of Realities” is an outstanding
current exhibition presented at
The Phillips Collection, a museum
in Washington, DC, that illuminates
this pivotal time in art and history.

Neo-Impressionism
Exhibition

The exhibition, which runs through
January 11, 2015, reflects the
Neo-Impressionist’s preoccupation
with “the idea, emotion, or the
synergy of senses”, highlighting
the period from 1888 to 1895.

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