Paul Cézanne
(1839 - 1906) Paul
Cézanne worked in the south of France at the same time
as Van Gogh. Vincent announced that Cézanne's wobbly forms
must have come from painting too long in the mistral. Like Van
Gogh, Cézanne also wanted to penetrate beyond the visible
reality of nature, but where Van Gogh saw mystery and power, Cézanne
saw abstract forms: the cube, the cylinder, the sphere and the
cone.
Edgar Degas
(1834 - 1917) Degas
didn't believe in painting out-of-doors like the other Impressionists.
He claimed that "art is not a sport." Degas' unique contributions
to art included remarkable cropping and unusual perspective, giving
the viewer the experience of becoming aware of the process of
seeing. His paintings of ballet dancers and horse racing were
considered "low", or common, every-day subject matter, which made
him one of the Impressionists.
Paul Gauguin
(1848 - 1903) Gauguin
was the central figure of a movement called Symbolism. He believed
art should explore and reveal the spiritual nature of the world.
In this, he and Vincent van Gogh were remarkably compatible. Gauguin's
flat planes of color took their inspiration from both folk art
and stained glass. In Tahiti, Gauguin's paintings of the natives
attempted to capture their nobility, simplicity and faith.
Frans Hals
(1581-1666) Hals
was considered one of the best Flemish portrait painters from
the seventeent-century. Van Gogh looked to him for inspiration
when he visited the museum in Amsterdam.
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