The Impressionists

The Impressionists, Fauves, and the Cubists are but a few of the innovative groups of artists who, despite the fame they enjoy today, met with overwhelmingly negative criticism during their time. In 1888 another group of young painters was formed. They proclaimed themselves “the Nabis”, from the Hebrew word for prophet. They began in Pont-Aven when one artist revealed to another that there were other ways of painting than those taught at the Academy Julian. They began painting landscapes in pure colors side by side with no transition between them. In this play of color and shape the artists saw a mysterious amulet with a secret meaning that had to be decoded bit by bit. To reduce the elements of a scene to an interplay of shapes and colors became the Nabis’ credo. The Nabis dreamed of a world made better through art that would express ideal beauty and the nobility of feelings. Although they remained friends, after 1900 the Nabis sought out their own personal paths. Two o...