Visual Feast

The objects can have colors only with the reflection of light. The existence of light can be achieved through different colors and tunes. From 1830s to the early of the 20th century, the impressionists, neo-impressionists and post-impressionists explained the light and color with the creative concept, which is different from what it used to be. They used the color which does not exist in nature or people can not imagine to express nature and the world, thus, renew people's concept of light and color and make the art history develop greatly in the aspect of light and color dimension. Their works not only pound against the vision and convulse the hearts, but also produce resonance between viewers and the works. The impressionists got rid of the bondage of inherent color, observed the constant changes of scenery under the sunshine carefully and knew the changing light and color because of the moving shadow at different time and sunshine. They introduced the light to their works, deserted the traditional and monotonous shadow and made a new chromatography using bright and rich colors to describe the changing phenomenon. Based on the method of the impressionists, the neo-impressionists, represented by Seurat and Signac, drew the pictures with points. They emphasized the design of the picture and tried some new ways of tones, compositions, perspectives and hues without the restriction of the objective nature. They tried to achieve some effects just depending on the arrangement of colors and points. The post-impressionists were influenced by the impressionist, but they were not satisfied with the artistic rules of the impressionists. They were against pure pursuit of the objects and damage to the structure because of the enchantment of color and color. They also objected the complicated ways of the neo-impressionists. They paid more attention to subjective intention, their own thoughts and the expression of sentiment They emphasized the influence of the works to the hearts and the artists' subjective imagination and illusion. They tended to use the weird and constantly changing lines. This thesis introduces the theory of the color and light of the impressionists, neo-impressionists and post-impressionists systematically and analyzed their similarities and differences on the whole, which are beneficial for people to understand the light and color in the process of artistic practice.