The Aura of Neo-Impressionism

4 January–6 March 1988

Inspired by the example and ideas of Georges Seurat, the late nineteenth century French and Belgian artists who have come to be described as the Neo-Impressionists bridged the period between the discoveries of the Impressionists and the daring experiments of the early twentieth-century Fauvists and Cubists. Against the background of the growing technical and scientific developments of the day, the Neo-Impressionists called upon the intense palettes of van Gogh and others, and attempted a shift from intuitive artistic methods to far more systematic foundations. In their efforts to achieve scientifically-based color harmonies and renderings, the Neo-Impressionists adopted the application of dots of unmixed colors in flattened, often precisely arranged compositions, now familiar hallmarks of the Neo-Impressionist aesthetic. The luminous and ethereal achievements of this short-lived movement, whose impact was felt throughout Europe into the early decades of the twentieth century, are broadly represented in the exhibition. The Aura of Neo-Impressionism was selected from the Holliday Collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the nation’s most comprehensive collection of Neo-Impressionist art. A few of the artists featured in the exhibition are Paul Signac, Maximilien Luce, Jean Metzinger, Theo van Rysselberghe, and Henry van de Velde. 

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