Impressionism recorded nature in terms of light and colour. Post impressionists rejected these limitations and instead sought to be more expressive. They were not concerned with depicting the effects of light and other visual effects like those seen in the impressionist movement, they were less idyllic. They wanted to express their meaning beyond the surface appearance; they painted with emotion, intellect, and the eye. The post-impressionism painters stressed their personal view of the visual world and had a freely expressive use of colour and form to describe emotions and movement.
http://www.vangoghgallery.com/influences/post-impressionism.html
They portrayed overall visual effects instead of details, and used short "broken" brush strokes of mixed and pure unmixed colour—not blended smoothly or shaded, as was customary—to achieve an effect of intense colour vibration.
source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressionism
Post Impressionists
Post-Impressionists extended Impressionism while rejecting its limitations: they continued using vivid colours, thick application of paint, distinctive brush strokes, and real-life subject matter, but they were more inclined to emphasize geometric forms, to distort form for expressive effect, and to use unnatural or arbitrary colour.
source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Impressionism
Neo-Impressionists
Georges Seurat was interested in the technical division of light into the colours of the spectrum. He is commonly regarded as the foremost Pointillist. Both Seurat and Paul Signac were founder members of the Neo-Impressionists. Seurat did not agree with some aspects of Impressionism. He did not believe in the practice of Impressionists mixing of pigments based on intuition, but contrary to it, by keeping them pure and using pairs of complementary colours, placing them directly alongside one another requiring the viewer to combine the colours, perceiving them as interfering with one with another..This practice was known as Divisionism. This term was coined in a book written by Signac - 'D'Eugene Delacroix au Neo-Impressionnisme' (1899). Seurat's approach was very logical and scientific and largely influenced by Chevreul's colour theories. He used opaque colours to obtain greater light reflection - this bounces back rather than penetrating first as with a transparent colour.
A contemporary and friend of his Paul Signac, was very similar in approach. which was one of applying unmixed paint in dabs side by side based on the above theory and a scientific analysis of light. The resulting pictures had such a brilliantly luminous quality, their full effects became evident only when viewed from a distance. After Seurat's death in 1891 Signac moved towards more colourful and vibrant effects. Signac and Seurat's experiments with colour division made a great contribution to the development of Fauvism and Abstraction.
Seurat's painting 'Bathers in Asniere' is an early illustration of his developing Pointillist techniques. It depicts male workers bathing on the left bank of the Seine with an industrial scene in the background. On very close inspection of a high resolution web image it is possible to make out some of the effects of optical mixing in certain areas such as on the lower half of the man seated on the orange cushion. Aswell as using complementaries he used small dabs, some going in various directions - cross hatching in the foreground and thin horizontal strokes on the water.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathers_at_Asni%C3%A8res#mediaviewer/File:Baigneurs_a_Asnieres.jpg
Paul Signac
http://www.wikiart.org/en/paul-signac/the-papal-palace-avignon-1900
The dominant colours used here are purples and pinks. Because large areas of dots of analogous colours such as orange and yellow on the main building are juxtaposed with its complementary shades of blue it gives rise to a shimmering vibrant effect.
From about 1900 small mosaic like squares of primary colours took over from dots in his paintings.
The Op Artists
Op Art sprang up in the early 1960s. Among its main sorces were Josef Albers - a former pupil was Richard Avuszkiewcz.
Op art, also known as optical art, is a style of visual art that makes use of optical illusions.
It is a method of painting concerning the interaction between illusion and picture plane, between understanding and seeing. Op art work art abstract, with many of the better known pieces made in red and yellow. When the viewer looks at them, the impression is given of movement, hidden images, flashing and vibration, patterns, or alternatively, of swelling or warping.
Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Op_artBridget Riley is the most well known of Op Artists. She studied Seurat's pointillist technique which help to spark her interest in optical effects. Her early was in black and white, from 1966 in colour.Typical effects of her paintings would be intensely dazzling optical illusions appearing to vibrate and pulsate, causing the canvas to appear distorted. A typical example is (Cataract 3), a large scale painting in greens alongside reds and areas of grey. The effect of looking at this is quite disorienting. This is her first work in colour. Prior to this Riley paintings were in monochrome.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Riley,_Cataract_3.jpg
Another famous exponant was the late Victor Vasarely. He was very popular and had a major influence on fashion and design. He used warm colours and was most concerned with creating the illusion of movement.
I later had the good fortune to be able to view one of his op art paintings and one of Bridget Rileys on display in the Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin. I'm not sure if there was a tremendous advantage in seeing them 'in the flesh' - one would not get a great sense of impasto brushstrokes for instance, as as the brushstrokes are quite smooth. Riley's is a relatively small painting, but Victor Vasarely's is 160x160cm, so the scale difference was worth seeing.
xttp://www.immacollection.com/eMuseumPlus?service=direct/1/ResultDetailView/result.inline.list.t1.collection_list.$TspTitleImageLink.linksp=13&sp=Sartist&sp=SfilterDefinition&sp=0&sp=1&sp=3&sp=SdetailView&sp=16&sp=Sdetail&sp=0&sp=T&sp=0&sp=SdetailList&sp=0&sp=F&sp=Scollection&sp=l86#.VQ69vY6sWHk
Victor Vasarley:
http://www.immacollection.com/eMuseumPlus?service=direct/1/ResultDetailView/result.inline.list.t1.collection_list.$TspTitleImageLink.link&sp=13&sp=Sartist&sp=SfilterDefinition&sp=0&sp=2&sp=3&sp=SdetailView&sp=3&sp=Sdetail&sp=0&sp=T&sp=0&sp=SdetailList&sp=0&sp=F&sp=Scollection&sp=l2047#.VQ6-A46sWHk
http://www.op-art.co.uk/op-art-gallery/victor-vasarely/Vega-Nor
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