"I paint what I see and not what it pleases others to see." What other words than these of edouard Manet, seemingly so different from the sentiments of Monet or Renoir, could best define the movement of Impressionism? Without a doubt this singularity was explained when, shortly before his death, Claude Monet wrote: "I remain sorry to have been the cause of the name given to a group the majority of which did not have anything Impressionist." In this work, Nathalia Brodskaia examines the contradictions of this late 19th century movement through the paradox of a group who, while forming a coherent ensemble, favoured the affirmation of artistic individuals. Between academic art and the birth of modern, non-figurative painting, the road to recognition was long. Analysing the founding elements of the movement, the author follows, through the works of each of the artists, how the demand for individuality gave rise to modern painting.

While Impressionism marked the first steps toward modern painting by revolutionising an artistic medium stifled by academic conventions, Post-Impressionism, even more revolutionary, completely liberated colour and opened it to new, unknown horizons. Anchored in his epoch, relying on the new chromatic studies of Michel Eugene Chevreul, Georges Seurat transcribed the chemist's theory of colours into tiny points that created an entire image. With his heavy strokes, Van Gogh illustrated the midday sun, while Cezanne renounced perspective. Rich in its variety and in the singularity of its artists, Post-Impressionism was a passage taken by all the well-known figures of 20th century painting, and which is here presented, for the great pleasure of the reader, by Nathalia Brodskaia.