Around 1880, the Parisian landscape was rapidly changing in the wake of industrialization. Coal mining was booming and factories were springing up everywhere. In the flat countryside, they could be seen from afar, dense smoke billowing from their chimneys. Five Post-Impressionist painters left Paris and settled in the suburbs to find inspiration for new painting techniques. The most famous of them was Vincent van Gogh. He described in a letter how the contrast between the bustling city, the quiet countryside, and the factories gave him new ideas. The Art Institute of Chicago's exhibition Van Gogh and the Avant-Garde: The Modern Landscape explores the painting techniques of van Gogh and his colleagues that paved the way for modern painting. More than 75 works, some rarely seen, will be on view from May 14 through September 4.
In addition to van Gogh, Georges Seurat, Paul Signac, Emile Bernard, and Charles Angrand are among the five artists who made history at the end of the 19th century. Pointillism and Cloisonism are two of the many achievements that continue to fascinate museum-goers and collectors today. The exhibition includes 25 paintings by van Gogh, most of which come from private collections and have rarely been shown in public. This exhibition is therefore worth seeing even for experienced connoisseurs of the painter.
