Floor plan

East wing: The Nineteenth CenturyPost-Impressionism

Post-Impressionism

View of a village surrounded by hills, fields, and trees, shown from a vantage point above the scene. Subtly rolling hills recede into a bluish gray-ish sky punctuated by white clouds. Thick brushstrokes built up atop each other are visible throughout.
Road in Etten, by Vincent van Gogh, 1881
A work made of oil on canvas.
Nursemaids’ Promenade, Frieze of Carriages, by Pierre Bonnard, 1895
Symbolic Head, by Odilon Redon, c. 1890
Painted in muted lime green, plum purple, buttercup yellow, slate and royal blue, the head and shoulders of a man with peach-colored skin sitting in front of a window looks at us in this stylized, vertical portrait. His body and face are angled to our right but he looks at us from the corners of his eyes, which are grass-green with touches of yellow. One cobalt-blue eyebrow is cocked, and shading in denim blue, butter yellow, and fern green create hollows under both eyes. His flat nose has a broad bridge, and his pale pink lips are closed, the far corner pulled slightly up. His mustache is painted with visible strokes of forest green and his ginger-orange beard is trimmed along his prominent, jutting chin. His short, dark hair is brushed back from his temples and is painted with strokes of pine green, navy blue, and coral orange. His shirt has a wide, golden yellow stripe along the collar above indigo blue, under a grayish-violet purple jacket. The wall over his shoulder, in the upper left corner, is painted vivid lime green with long, vertical brushstrokes. The view through the window beyond his other shoulder is of vegetation and mountains. The portrait is painted with visible brushstrokes throughout, and is especially loose in the background, hair, and jacket. An inscription in dark green script in the upper left reads, “a l'ami Carriere PGauguin.” A second inscription in the lower left is written with dark brown paint: “l'ami Laval PGo.”
The image shows two women walking arm in arm, both in traditional attire. One woman is facing away with a slight profile, while the other is seen from the side. Their faces are stylized and simplistic with covered hair. They wear long dresses with aprons and collars, and one has a striped apron. Haystacks and greenery surround them. Faint figures are in the background, as well as a spire-like structure. A dog is seen near the haystack, with simple lines suggesting a landscape.

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

Artists who kept Impressionism's colour but pushed towards structure, symbol and feeling.

Section 1, north wall

  1. View of a village surrounded by hills, fields, and trees, shown from a vantage point above the scene. Subtly rolling hills recede into a bluish gray-ish sky punctuated by white clouds. Thick brushstrokes built up atop each other are visible throughout.
    Auvers, Panoramic ViewPaul Cézanne, 1873–75Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Road in Etten, by Vincent van Gogh, 1881
    Road in EttenVincent van Gogh, 1881Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Madame Roulin Rocking the Cradle (La berceuse)Vincent van Gogh, 1889Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 1, south wall

  1. Nursemaids’ Promenade, Frieze of Carriages, by Pierre Bonnard, 1895
    Nursemaids’ Promenade, Frieze of CarriagesPierre Bonnard, 1895Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. Symbolic Head, by Odilon Redon, c. 1890
    Symbolic HeadOdilon Redon, c. 1890Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. Painted in muted lime green, plum purple, buttercup yellow, slate and royal blue, the head and shoulders of a man with peach-colored skin sitting in front of a window looks at us in this stylized, vertical portrait. His body and face are angled to our right but he looks at us from the corners of his eyes, which are grass-green with touches of yellow. One cobalt-blue eyebrow is cocked, and shading in denim blue, butter yellow, and fern green create hollows under both eyes. His flat nose has a broad bridge, and his pale pink lips are closed, the far corner pulled slightly up. His mustache is painted with visible strokes of forest green and his ginger-orange beard is trimmed along his prominent, jutting chin. His short, dark hair is brushed back from his temples and is painted with strokes of pine green, navy blue, and coral orange. His shirt has a wide, golden yellow stripe along the collar above indigo blue, under a grayish-violet purple jacket. The wall over his shoulder, in the upper left corner, is painted vivid lime green with long, vertical brushstrokes. The view through the window beyond his other shoulder is of vegetation and mountains. The portrait is painted with visible brushstrokes throughout, and is especially loose in the background, hair, and jacket. An inscription in dark green script in the upper left reads, “a l'ami Carriere PGauguin.” A second inscription in the lower left is written with dark brown paint: “l'ami Laval PGo.”
    Self-Portrait Dedicated to CarrièrePaul Gauguin, 1888 or 1889Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. The image shows two women walking arm in arm, both in traditional attire. One woman is facing away with a slight profile, while the other is seen from the side. Their faces are stylized and simplistic with covered hair. They wear long dresses with aprons and collars, and one has a striped apron. Haystacks and greenery surround them. Faint figures are in the background, as well as a spire-like structure. A dog is seen near the haystack, with simple lines suggesting a landscape.
    Pleasures of Brittany (Joies de Bretagne)Paul Gauguin, 1889Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Section 2, south wall

  1. A work made of oil on panel.
    Final Study for "Bathers at Asnières"Georges Seurat, 1883Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Painting of a red-haired, bearded man with light skin, painted in short brushstrokes and multicolored dots. The background is likewise a mass of small, closely spaced colored dots, these in green, blue, and red-orange.
    Self-PortraitVincent van Gogh, 1887Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque), by Georges Seurat, 1887–88
    Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque)Georges Seurat, 1887–88Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  4. In My Dream I Saw in the Sky a Face of Mystery, by Odilon Redon, 1885
    In My Dream I Saw in the Sky a Face of MysteryOdilon Redon, 1885Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Section 2, north wall

  1. Impressionist sea landscape, tan houses, blue ocean, distant mountains.
    The Bay of Marseille, Seen from L'EstaquePaul Cézanne, c. 1885Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. At the Concert Parisien, by Georges Seurat, 1887–88
    At the Concert ParisienGeorges Seurat, 1887–88Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. Lush tall grasses with small white flowers foreground a grove of bushy trees of varying types and heights, their leaves ranging from deep green to golden. Beneath a dense and heavy yellow sky, a small blue triangle suggesting a mountain peak crests above the treeline at far left.
    The Poet's GardenVincent van Gogh, 1888Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 3, north wall

  1. Large painting of people in a crowded park, brushstrokes are dots.
    A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884Georges Seurat, 1884–86, border added 1888–89Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. The Card Players, by Paul Cézanne, 1890–92
    The Card PlayersPaul Cézanne, 1890–92Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art