Final answer:
Van Gogh's work was significantly influenced by his exposure to Impressionists, leading to lighter colors and broad, broken brushstrokes in his paintings. He absorbed their focus on light, color, and moment-capturing techniques, infusing his work with vibrant hues and emotional intensity.
Step-by-step explanation:
Van Gogh's exposure to the Impressionists had a profound impact on his artwork. After he moved to Paris in 1885, the encounters with the works of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists led him to adopt lighter colors and a distinctive broad, broken style of brushstrokes. Captivated by the lighting and landscape he found in Arles, Van Gogh incorporated bold contrasts and vast swaths of yellow into his paintings, reflecting the influence of Impressionist techniques.
Impressionism emphasized capturing light and color, profoundly affecting how artists conveyed nature and people on canvas. The movement aimed to record the fleeting moments of life using rapid, dynamic brushstrokes and a palette that eschewed traditional muted tones for vibrant hues. This was a drastic shift from earlier art that often featured more literal use of color and detailed representations.
Post-Impressionists like Van Gogh, Gauguin, Seurat, and Cezanne continued to experiment with color and form, veering towards more abstract representations and emotional expressions in their artwork. In Van Gogh's case, this meant using visually striking, unnatural colors and applying thick layers of paint to convey his innermost feelings and perceptions of the world.