Editing Post-Impressionism (section)

===Reviews and adjustments===
Rewald wrote that "the term 'Post-Impressionism' is not a very precise one, though a very convenient one"; convenient, when the term is by definition limited to French visual arts derived from Impressionism since 1886.  Rewald's approach to historical data was narrative rather than analytic, and beyond this point he believed it would be sufficient to "let the sources speak for themselves."<ref name="Rewald 1978, p. 9"/>

Rival terms like [[Modernism]] or [[Symbolism (movement)|Symbolism]] were never as easy to handle, for they covered literature, architecture and other arts as well, and they expanded to other countries.

* [[Modernism]], thus, is now considered to be the central movement within ''international'' western civilization with its original roots in France, going back beyond the [[French Revolution]] to the [[Age of Enlightenment]].
* [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolism]], however, is considered to be a concept which emerged a century later in France, and implied an individual approach. Local national traditions as well as individual settings therefore could stand side by side, and from the very beginning a broad variety of artists practicing some kind of symbolic imagery, ranged between extreme positions: [[The Nabis]] for example united to find synthesis of tradition and brand new form, while others kept to traditional, more or less academic forms, when they were looking for fresh contents: Symbolism is therefore often linked to fantastic, esoteric, erotic and other non-realist subject matter.

To meet the recent discussion, the connotations of the term 'Post-Impressionism' were challenged again: [[Alan Bowness]] and his collaborators expanded the period covered forward to 1914 and the beginning of [[World War I]], but limited their approach widely on the 1890s to France. Other European countries are pushed back to standard connotations, and Eastern Europe is completely excluded.

In Germany, it was [[Paul Baum (artist)|Paul Baum]] and [[Carl Schmitz-Pleis]] who, in retrospect, provided the decisive impetus.<ref>''Christie's Review of the Season''. 1986, p. 11.</ref>

So, while a split may be seen between classical 'Impressionism' and 'Post-Impressionism' in 1886, the end and the extent of 'Post-Impressionism' remains under discussion. For Bowness and his contributors as well as for Rewald, '[[Cubism]]' was an absolutely fresh start, and so Cubism has been seen in France since the beginning, and later in England. Meanwhile, Eastern European artists, however, did not care so much for western traditions, and proceeded to manners of painting called [[Abstract painting|abstract]] and [[Suprematism|suprematic]]—terms expanding far into the 20th century.

According to the present state of discussion, ''Post-Impressionism'' is a term best used within Rewald's definition in a strictly historical manner, concentrating on French art between 1886 and 1914, and re-considering the altered positions of ''[[Impressionists|impressionist]]'' painters like [[Claude Monet]], [[Camille Pissarro]], [[Auguste Renoir]], and others—as well as all new schools and movements at the turn of the century: from [[Cloisonnism]] to [[Cubism]]. The declarations of war, in July/August 1914, indicate probably far more than the beginning of a [[World War I|World War]]—they signal a major break in European cultural history, too.

Along with general art history information given about "Post-Impressionism" works, there are many museums that offer additional history, information and gallery works, both online and in house, that can help viewers understand a deeper meaning of "Post-Impressionism" in terms of fine art and traditional art applications.