Breton Girls Dancing, Pont-Aven by Paul Gauguin, 1888, National Gallery of Art.
Known as the Volpini Suite, Gauguin's ground-breaking show that is widely considered to be the first exhibition of Symbolist Art.
Shaping Nature with Color
Le Talisman, 1888 by Paul Serusier
Serusier was strongly influenced by Post Impressionist Paul Gauguin's bright and bold works and this painting represents nature broken into blocks of color. What makes the Nabis artists different from the Abstract Expressionists who saw their work as a revolution, is that the Nabis saw theirs as a bold new interpretation of their world, rather than a revolution against tradition.
A Banner Year
Wheatfield, 1888 by Vincent van Gogh.
1888 was a busy year for van Gogh he moved down to the South of France where he was energized by the subjects and the natural light, Gauguin came to stay with him which prompted the episode where he cut-off part of his ear, and his beloved brother Theo married.
Puppies and Pears
Still Life with Three Puppies, 1888 by Paul Gauguin, the Museum of Modern Art, NYC.
This was painted by Gauguin the same year he lived with van Gogh.
Strutting
Child Wearing a Red Scarf by Edouard Vuillard, c. 1891, The National Gallery of Art (US)
This is one of my favorite Vuillard pieces. It is not very big, but I just love the little girl. She seems so proud to be wearing that "grown-up" scarf (reminds me of myself as a girl, always wanting to wear something beyond my years).
Vuillard was interested in color and he and other like-minded art students (Pierre Bonnard was one) were influenced by Paul Gauguin's use of color and Symbolism and belonged to a group called Les Nabis.