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Why is Post-Impressionism considered both an extension and a rejection of Impressionism?

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Oil painting self-portrait by Judith Leyster showing her seated at an easel, smiling at the viewer while holding a paintbrush and palette, with a violinist painting on the canvas beside her. — Western painting *Self-Portrait*, oil on canvas by Judith Leyster, c. 1630; in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Post-Impressionism is defined as both an extension and a rejection of Impressionism because it utilized the movement's technical foundations while abandoning its limited focus on objective naturalism.12

An Extension of Impressionism

Post-Impressionist artists built upon several key innovations established by the Impressionists, including:
* The use of pure, brilliant color.12
* A departure from traditional subject matter.12
* The technique of defining form through short, broken brushstrokes.12

A Rejection of Impressionism

While they adopted these methods, Post-Impressionists rejected the Impressionist goal of objectively recording the transient effects of light and nature. Instead, they sought more ambitious, personal, and often spiritual forms of expression.2

Individual artists pushed beyond these limitations in distinct ways:
* Paul Cézanne moved away from evanescent light to focus on the underlying structure and monumental permanence of forms.2
* Georges Seurat replaced the empirical, spontaneous application of color with the scientific, theoretical technique of pointillism.2
* Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin rejected the "indifferent objectivity" of Impressionism, using color and line to convey intense personal emotion and symbolic, spiritual truths.2