Printables to Teach Kids About the Post-Impressionist

Post-Impressionist artists were known to stretch the boundaries of those who came before them. The era for Post-Impressionism lasted from 1885 to 1910. These printables will help you teach kids all about the Post-Impressionist and his/her artwork during that period.

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Post-Impressionists learned all about using shadows, light, and colors from their predecessors, the impressionists. They took their techniques and made them their own by adding in their vision for new subjects, shapes, and perspectives to express how they wanted to portray the world around them.

Post-Impressionists evolved from the impressionists by experimenting with vivid colors and light, all the while by using different geometric forms and unnatural colors. Many artists during this period followed their own paths and developed unique styles.

Explore Post-Impressionists below and grab the resources to help teach your kids all about this period in art history.

Paul Cezanne

Paul Cézanne: Nature morte, pot à lait et fruits sur une table (Still life with milk pot and fruits on a table) (a work of the Public Domain)

Cezanne was and is still called the “Father of Post-Impressionism.” He is well-known for his artwork that depicted landscapes and still-life paintings. Can you believe that he was actually ridiculed for his artwork during his time? However,  artists like Picasso and Matisse actually considered him a master of art.

Paul Cezanne Artist Study | Teach Beside Me

Paul Cezanne Word Search Worksheet | Puzzles to Print

Georges Seurat

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (a work of the Public Domain)

Seurat is super interesting, as he came up with this way of painting called Pointillism. In Pointillism, he explored the science of optics (how we see) and color by placing tiny dots of different colors next to each other instead of mixing colors together.

When people view the artwork, their eyes do the mixing! (This is much like we see “pixels” today on a computer screen.) And let’s just say, Seurat must have been a man of GREAT patience, being able to paint via tiny dots on a canvas.

Georges Seurat Facts & Worksheets | Kidskonnect

FREE Seurat Color: Lesson Plans | arTree Magazine

Pierre Bonnard

Woman with a dog (1891). The checked blouse was inspired by Japanese prints. (a work of the Public Domain)

Bonnard was a lawyer for years before becoming an artist. He was a member of Les Nabis, a group of artists that saw themselves as prophets of modern day art. They used bold colors, yet a simple style of painting. Note: Nabis comes from the Hebrew word for “prophet”. (I guess they weren’t too shy.)

Warning: Please do not let your child Google or search this artist without parental guidance due to the graphic nature of some of his artwork.

Pierre Bonnard (3 Printable Pages & 1 Oil Pastel Techniques) Art Artist | ART Wizard

Useful Resources and Videos on Pierre Bonnard | The Art Story

Henri Rousseau

“Tiger in a Tropical Storm” by Henri Rousseau (a work of the Public Domain)

Rousseau started his career as a tax collector, but you wouldn’t tell from his Post-Impressionist art pieces. He is well-known for his paintings of jungles having a neat layering effect –but get this, he never even went to a jungle. He was coined for saying that he had “no teacher other than nature.”

FREE Printable Resources for a Homeschool Lesson on Henri Rousseau

Henri Rousseau for Kids- Books and Printable Resources | The Kitchen Table Classroom

Vincent van Gogh

Of course, Vincent van Gogh is quite possibly the most famous Post-Impressionist of them all. He used very bright colors, thick layers of paint, swirls, and flowers. There are few things about Vincent van Gogh that your kids may find quite interesting. For instance, he painted 420 paintings in the last two years of his life, but only sold one painting while he was alive. So, he became famous only after he had passed.

Best Vincent van Gogh fact ever:

Vincent van Gogh was a missionary in southern Belgium, where he gave away everything he owned to help the people there. During his younger years, he was zealous for Christ and even painted a famous piece called The Bible.

Van Gogh-Starry Night-Post Impressionism | Education in the Arts

Vincent van Gogh Notebooking Pages | Life Beyond the Lesson Plan

Vincent van Gogh – Post Impressionism Post Impressionist – FREE POSTER | Carol Irvin

FREE Printable Vincent Van Gogh Resources for Kids

Resources to aid in teaching about Post-Impressionism and art history:

Resources for teaching about Post-Impressionism| TeachKidsART

FREE Printable for Art Appreciation (Post-Impressionist Art Cards) | Layers of Learning

25 Printable Art Cards – Impressionism & Post Impressionism – Art History | Carol Irvin

FREE Famous Artists Notebooking Research Journal

If your child draws or is interested in the arts, then teaching them about these pioneers is greatly beneficial to them. Teaching the arts can present difficult concepts for our children to dissect. It challenges them to critically think about what they are seeing.

Studying these Post-Impressionists helps connect kids with revolutionary parts of art history created by people that were once just like them.

Masterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection (Metropolitan Museum of Art)Post-Impressionism : The Rise of Modern Art, 1880-1920Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: The Hermitage, Leningrad, the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, and the National Gallery of Art, WashingtonImpressionism and Post-Impressionism: Highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of ArtCezanne: 80+ Still Life Paintings – Post-Impressionism – Paul Cezanne – Annotated SeriesPost Impressionism (Eyewitness Art)Basic Art Series: TEN in ONE. ImpressionismImpressionism (Basic Art Series 2.0)