Britannica
Sources used in this answer
How did Impressionism change Vincent van Gogh’s work in Paris?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Vincent van Gogh
Self-Portrait, oil on artist's board on cradled panel by Vincent van Gogh, 1887; in the Art Institute of Chicago.
When Vincent van Gogh arrived in Paris in 1886, his exposure to Impressionism and his friendships with artists such as Camille Pissarro, Georges Seurat, and Paul Gauguin catalyzed a significant transformation in his artistic style.12
Before this period, his work was more traditional, but the influence of the Impressionist movement led to several key changes:
- Color and Palette: Van Gogh adopted a much more colorful palette, moving away from his earlier, darker tonalities toward the brilliant, pure colors favored by the Impressionists.12
- Brushwork: He began utilizing the broken brushstrokes characteristic of Impressionism to define form. By 1887, he was experimenting with pointillism, using tiny dots of color to capture light and atmosphere.12
- Personal Expression: While he learned from Impressionist techniques, van Gogh ultimately moved beyond their objective recording of nature. He transformed their short, broken brushstrokes into vibrant, curving lines of color, using them to express his own intense emotions rather than merely depicting a scene.2
By early 1888, these developments had crystallized into his unique Post-Impressionist style, marking a shift toward a more subjective and emotionally charged approach to painting.12