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Post-Impressionism emerged in 1886 with the official cessation of the Impressionist movement. Before the movement's decline, the Impressionists had successfully conquered a generation of skeptical critics. Although the movement lasted less than a decade, the Impressionist school had indirectly challenged and inspired their successors (the Post-Impressionists) to venture into new artistic expression similar to the way they had.

In 1886, with the final decline of the Impressionists, the Postimpressionists surfaced as the primary art movement in Paris. When they emerged however, they did not support the Impressionists naturalistic form as the Impressionists may have wanted, but the Postimpressionists ironically rejected their teachings in the same way that the Impressionist had done. The Impressionists had unknowingly passed the same rebellious quality that had made their movement a success.

During the turn of the century, most artists continued to keep close ties. Due to general disgust among the critics, the Postimpressionists had to continually seek out each other's advice and bolster each other's ambitions. During this time, Paris remained the art center of the world, and people everywhere expected only the best out of Parisian art. For the Postimpressionists, meeting this demand only served to strengthen and fortify their success as a significant art movement.

Although the Post-Impressionist movement is considered to have traditionally began in 1886, not until 1910 did the Postimpressionists collectively gather at one big exhibition. Consequently, most of the public considered their work to be trivial and insignificant. In 1910, when the Postimpressionists gathered in the Grafton Gallery in London, most of the public laughed at their style. At any rate, the Postimpressionists exhibition in 1910 turned out to be a tremendous success, with an average of 400 visitors a day. It was also at this exhibition that the movement officially received its present day name. The British Journalist and art critic Roger Fry coined the lasting term Post-Impressionist. Trying to think of the name he lost his patience and stated "Lets just call them Postimpressionists, at any rate, they came after the Impressionists."