The Anarchist Vision of Neo-Impressionist Artists

Neo-Impressionists, such as Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), Georges Seurat (1859-1891), and Paul Signac (1863-1935), were known for their anarchist, also known as Anarchist-Communist, tendencies in which economic communist beliefs were blended with individual anarchist sentiments. According to the anarchist doctrine, France would ideally return to its agrarian roots and abandon the dividing force of industrialism in favor of small, communal, self-sufficient farming communities. Jean Grave (1854-1939), a dominant political character in the movement, began to recruit the Neo-Impressionist artists to explore these political ideals. Grave, unlike many of his counterparts, saw the political and propagandistic role which art could serve in furthering the goals of the anarchists (Herbert and Herbert 474). Eventually, Neo-Impressionist techniques assumed aspects evocative of anarchist sentiment. For example, the new manner of paint application provided an “analogue for the harmony in freedom that could unite humanity and, in turn, reconcile [humanity] with nature” (Antliff 45). The painterly, methodical, and precise technique known as Pointillism or Divisionism, established by Seurat and Signac, and the inclusion of modern color theories were also significant, because this denoted a break from the traditions and establishments of the Academy. Prior to the 1890s, the majority of Neo-Impressionist subject matter was quite evident in the portrayal of a utopian ideal which these artists wished to extoll to the viewing public. Although depictions of laborers, the marginalized, and the vagabond–a character viewed as a “heroic individualist…[and a] victim of the bourgeoisie’s indifference to the poor”–clearly indicated the critical view of the social divide, most Neo-Impressionist art contained a less obvious scene with a political undertone (“Les Prolos Vagabondent”). Many Neo-Impressionist landscapes, for example, revealed the “utopian visions of the future anarchist state” because the artists viewed “idyllic landscapes [as] a kind of escape from the ugly present” (Herbert and Herbert 180).  The ultimate goal in the creation of these propagandistic pieces was aimed towards sparking revolution to defeat the pervading political condition.