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Discovery of electricity
In 1759, Benjamin Franklin discovered that lightning is electrical. This meant that, in the world of Post-Impressionist art, electricity was still a semi-new idea, and not very widely available. -
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European Industrial Revolution
This event revolutionized the way objects were made, linking the world closer together. It moved Europe from "homemade" goods to factory-produced ones. -
Paul Cézanne is born
Cézanne is born in Aix-en-Province on the coast of France. His father is a lawyer and a banker. -
Michel-Eugène Chevreul’s Color Theory
This theory, known today as an artistic and scientific milestone, directly impacted the way the pointillist painters worked with color. It was published in French in 1839. -
Invention of daguerreotype
Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre invented the daguerreotype in 1839. This early form of photography changed the art world as the artists realized it was yet another way to play with reality. -
Paul Gauguin is born
Paul Gauguin is born in Paris, France to Clovis Gauguin and Aline Chazal. -
Vincent van Gogh is born
Vincent van Gogh is born into an upper-middle class family in the Netherlands. -
Opening of Japan
Japan, which had been closed to the outside world for many years, opened to trade once more in 1853. This made it easier for artists to get ahold of Japanese art work, which influenced their own art heavily. -
Cézanne goes to law school
Paul Cézanne is forced by his father to go to law school. Soon thereafter, he drops it for art. -
Georges Seurat is born
Seurat is born in Paris, France. -
Paul Signac is born
Paul Signac is born in Paris, France. -
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Franco-Prussian War / The War of 1870
Fought between France and the Kingdom of Prussia, this war lasted from 1870 to 1871. It likely impacted the way anarchy was seen, and thus influenced how Signac saw the world. -
Tahiti becomes a French colony
This made it much easier for French citizens to visit Tahiti. The Primitivist movement, and Gauguin's work specifically, was influenced heavily by Tahitian culture and its people. -
Signac decides to pursue art
Signac visits an exhibit of works by Claude Monet, then decides to become a painter. He drops his schooling in architecture do to so. -
Seurat exhibits first art piece
Seurat's first exhibited art piece was a Conté crayon drawing of his friend Aman-Jean, exhibited at the Salon in France. -
Gaugin quits job as stock broker
Paul Gaugin quits his job as a stock broker to become an artist after the French stock market crashes. -
Seurat meets chemist Michel-Eugéne Chevruel
Seurat meets the 100-year-old chemist Michel-Eugéne Chevruel, who pioneered color theory and was the author of a book that influenced Seurat greatly as an artist. -
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Work -- A Sunday On La Grande Jatte
The painting was Seurat's most famous work. Done in a pointillist style, the art depicts people spending time by the banks of the River Seine. -
Van Gogh moves to Paris
Much of Van Gogh's style was influenced by other painters who lived in France. Paris at this time was the center of art. -
Cezanne marries Marie-Hortense Fiquet
Many of Cezanne's paintings were portraits of a woman. He painted 27 oil portraits of one woman in 30-ish years. This woman was his wife, Marie-Hortense Fiquet, who he married in 1886. -
Work -- Mont Saint-Victoire with Large Pine
Mont Saint-Victoire with Large Pine was one of many landscapes of the aformentioned mountain painted by Cezanne. The mountain was in Provence in the south of France, -
Work -- Cafe Terrace at Night
Van Gogh's painting of this nighttime city cafe has no black in it, despite the darkness in much of the painting. This was the first painting in which Van Gogh used starry sky effects; his later painting Starry Night is a more famous example of his starry skies. -
Van Gogh cuts off part of his ear
It is unclear why van Gogh decided to cut his ear off; many historians believe he was driven to madness by a mental illness. He later depicts himself with a bandaged ear in a self-portrait, which was painted to persuade the doctors at a mental hospital that he was stable. It's said that van Gogh gifted the ear to a prostitute named Rachel. -
Van Gogh ends friendship with Gauguin
For many years, Gauguin was close with van Gogh. The two lived together in Arles, France, to work on art together. They heavily influenced each other. Van Gogh ended their friendship in 1888, and some historians believe that this was a part of what drove van Gogh to cut his ear off. -
Signac discovers anarchist ideals
This discovery of anarchist ideals influenced many of Signac's paintings, most notably "In The Time Of Harmony", which was almost called "In The Time Of Anarchy". -
Work -- Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear
One of many of van Gogh's self portraits, this was painted after van Gogh cut his ear off. It includes a Japanese art print -- van Gogh had heavy Japanese influence -- and was painted in order to affirm to doctors that he was sane enough to be released from a mental hospital. -
Work -- Starry Night
One of van Gogh's most famous paintings, Starry Night was a culmination of much of his styles. It includes wild brush strokes, vivid colors, movement, and many stars in the sky. -
Van Gogh dies
Van Gogh died on the 27 of July, 1890. The death was a suicide. According to his brother, van Gogh's last words were, "The sadness will last forever." -
Cezanne is diagnosed with diabetes.
Paul Cezanne's diagnosis led to depression, lethargy, and sadness. -
Seurat dies
On the 29 of March 1891, Paul Seurat died in his parents' home in Paris. He was 31. -
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Gauguin goes to Tahiti
The trip and stay in Tahiti had heavy influence on Gauguin's Primitivist style. He painted many works based on his time there and the people he met. -
Work -- When Will You Marry?
A prime example of primitivism, this painting was created while Gauguin lived in Tahiti. It depicts two sides of Tahitian culture -- before colonization and after. -
First moving picture
The invention of a motion picture camera and the invention of kinetiscopes (devices to view "moving pictures" through peepholes) came in 1892. They were invented by Edison and Dickson. -
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Work - In The Time Of Harmony
Done between 1893 and 1895, the painting depicts a "utopian" scene. The painting was almost called "In The Time Of Anarchy" due to the anarchist influence on this painting. -
Period: to
Work -- Still Life With Apples
Though it is a still life, this painting is an unconventional one in form and style. Cezanne attempted to "dispute" the conventional by creating a still life that fit the definition but was "avant-garde". -
Gauguin dies
On the 8 of May 1903, Gauguin died suddenly in French Polynesia. -
Signac becomes president of the Société des Artistes Indépendants
Signac becomes president of an artist society that he remained in charge of until his death. -
Cezanne dies
Cezanne died of pneumonia on the 22 of October 1906 in Aix-en-Provence, France, -
Signac dies
On 15 August 1935, Signac died in Paris, France. He was 71. -
“Sunday in the Park with George” written about Seurat’s painting A Sunday On La Grande Jatte
The musical "Sunday in the Park with George" was based on A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. It brought much fame to the painting, because of its "re-discovery".