Synthetism
Description
Synthetism is a term used by Post-Impressionist artists like Paul Gauguin, Émile Bernard and Louis Anquetin to distinguish their work stylistically from Impressionism. Earlier, Synthetism has been connected to the term Cloisonnism, and later to Symbolism. The term is derived from the French verb synthétiser (to synthesize or to combine so as to form a new, complex product).
Paul Gauguin, Émile Bernard, Louis Anquetin, and others pioneered the style during the late 1880s and early 1890s. Read more ↗
Key Artists
Paul Gauguin
Co-founder and leader of the Synthetist group in Pont-Aven who theorized that art must synthesize outward natural appearance, internal emotion, and pure aesthetic form.
Émile Bernard
Co-originator whose radical elimination of shadow, flat color fields, and heavy contours provided Gauguin with the essential visual vocabulary of Synthetism.
Paul Sérusier
Key disciple who painted 'The Talisman' under Gauguin's direct Synthetist tutelage, transforming natural landscape colors into bold, unmixed abstract planes on a wooden panel.
Charles Laval
Close companion of Gauguin who traveled with him to Martinique and Brittany, creating bold Synthetist landscapes and market scenes featuring strong silhouettes and saturated color.
Louis Anquetin
Pioneering colleague of Bernard who developed flat, expressive color planes and heavy dark outlines that directly contributed to the theoretical formulation of Synthetism.
Cuno Amiet
Swiss painter who joined the Pont-Aven circle in 1892, mastering Synthetist color purity and heavy contours in Breton peasant depictions before carrying the style to Switzerland.
Famous Artworks
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Fun Facts
In June 1889, Paul Gauguin and his associates bypassed the official Paris Exposition Universelle by mounting their own independent show at Mr. Volpini's Café des Arts right on the Champ de Mars, calling it the 'Exposition de peintures du groupe impressioniste et synthétiste' to officially launch Synthetism.
↗ Source: britannica.com
Paul Gauguin derived the name 'Synthetism' from the French verb 'synthétiser' to emphasize three simultaneous syntheses: the outward appearance of natural forms, the artist's deepest emotional feelings toward the subject, and the pure aesthetic beauty of color, line, and flat pattern.
↗ Source: britannica.com