From 13 September 2025 to 8 February 2026, the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery will host one of the most remarkable exhibitions of modern European art: Radical Harmony: Helene Kröller-Müller’s Neo-Impressionists. Bringing together masterpieces by Seurat, Signac, Van Gogh, Pissarro, Toorop, Boch and Cross, this exhibition offers an unparalleled insight into the birth of a movement that transformed the language of painting forever.
For the first time in London, audiences will experience the world’s most significant collection of Neo-Impressionist art, a radical and revolutionary style that changed how light, colour, and society itself could be depicted on canvas.
The Revolutionary Birth of Neo-Impressionism
When Georges Seurat first presented his experimental works in the late 1880s, critics were divided. His technique, later known as pointillism, was seen by some as the end of painting as an art form, while others hailed it as the beginning of a new era. Instead of broad brushstrokes or the atmospheric haze of Impressionism, Seurat employed countless tiny dots of pure colour.
When viewed up close, these dots seemed chaotic and fragmented. Yet, when seen from a distance, they blended optically, producing luminosity and depth that no pigment mixing on a palette could achieve. It was a bold move that blurred the boundary between science and art, between mathematical order and painterly freedom.
The Neo-Impressionists—a circle that included Paul Signac, Henri-Edmond Cross, Maximilien Luce, Anna Boch, and Jan Toorop—took Seurat’s innovations and carried them into landscapes, portraits, interiors, and scenes of everyday life. What united them was not only a new technique but also a radical political and social vision.
Radical Colour and Political Vision
Unlike their Impressionist predecessors, who sought to capture fleeting impressions of light and atmosphere, the Neo-Impressionists were committed to precision, order, and intellectual engagement. Their dots of colour were not random but guided by contemporary theories of optics and perception—particularly the work of Michel Eugène Chevreul and Charles Henry.
At the same time, these artists were drawn to progressive politics. Many were linked to anarchist and socialist movements, and their art reflected a critique of the industrial age and its impact on working people. The brilliance of their colours and the harmony of their compositions carried a utopian idealism—a belief that society, like colour, could be reorganised into something more luminous and harmonious.
Paintings such as Signac’s “In the Time of Harmony” or Cross’s radiant seascapes were more than aesthetic exercises—they were manifestos for a new world, painted with dots of hope and light.
Helene Kröller-Müller: A Visionary Collector
At the heart of this exhibition is the extraordinary figure of Helene Kröller-Müller (1869–1939), one of the first great female patrons of modern art. Born into a wealthy German family and later settled in the Netherlands, Kröller-Müller used her fortune to amass a collection that became the most comprehensive ensemble of Neo-Impressionist paintings in existence.
Guided by her mentor, the artist and critic H.P. Bremmer, she believed that art should be accessible to everyone. Her vision was not that of a private collector hoarding treasures, but of a cultural benefactor determined to build a public museum. Today, the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands, houses more than 11,000 works of art, including the second-largest collection of Van Gogh’s paintings in the world.
What sets Kröller-Müller apart is her commitment to Neo-Impressionism at a time when it was far from fashionable. She recognised in its scientific rigour and radical ideals a vision that aligned with her own philosophy of harmony and balance—values she believed could shape both art and society.
Highlights of the Exhibition
The Radical Harmony exhibition presents masterpieces rarely seen outside the Netherlands, carefully curated to reveal the full breadth of Neo-Impressionist innovation. Visitors will encounter:
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Georges Seurat – Works exemplifying the genesis of pointillism, where each dot is a calculated note in a symphony of colour.
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Paul Signac – Luminous harbour scenes and landscapes that illustrate his belief in harmony as both an artistic and political principle.
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Vincent van Gogh – Paintings from the period when Van Gogh absorbed the lessons of colour division and experimented with Neo-Impressionist techniques, shaping his later explosive style.
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Camille Pissarro – A master of Impressionism who embraced Neo-Impressionism in his later years, blending social awareness with chromatic innovation.
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Henri-Edmond Cross – Radiant seascapes and idyllic visions infused with light and utopian optimism.
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Anna Boch and Jan Toorop – Two artists who extended the reach of the movement, Boch as one of its few female practitioners, Toorop as a visionary who bridged Neo-Impressionism with Symbolism.
Each canvas reveals not only a technical revolution but also a worldview—a belief that art could illuminate the challenges and hopes of modern life.
The Intersection of Science, Art, and Society
What makes Neo-Impressionism so enduring is its fusion of intellectual precision and emotional resonance. While Impressionism sought to capture the fleeting, Neo-Impressionism sought to structure perception itself. Every dot of paint carried the weight of both science and sentiment.
The movement reflected a moment when European society stood on the cusp of modernity—with electricity, industrialisation, and political unrest reshaping the urban and rural landscapes. To paint in dots of colour was to embrace a new vision of reality: fragmented, dynamic, and radiant with possibility.
For audiences today, standing before these works is to glimpse the anxieties and aspirations of a century past, but also to recognise in them echoes of our own age—questions of technology, community, and the search for harmony.
A Historic Collaboration: National Gallery and Kröller-Müller Museum
This exhibition represents an unprecedented collaboration between two major cultural institutions: the National Gallery, London, and the Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo. Together, they have created an opportunity for audiences to engage with works that rarely travel and to experience the dialogue between British and European art histories.
For London audiences, this is more than an exhibition—it is a chance to step inside the mind of Helene Kröller-Müller, to see the world as she did, through the lens of colour, light, and social idealism.
Why Radical Harmony Matters Today
In our contemporary moment of fragmentation and uncertainty, Radical Harmony speaks with renewed urgency. The Neo-Impressionists believed in rebuilding society on principles of balance, equality, and beauty. Their art was not escapist but transformative, offering visions of how life could be reimagined.
The exhibition challenges us to ask: What does harmony mean in the 21st century? Can colour and light still inspire us to see the world differently? Just as Seurat and his circle found new ways of perceiving, so too must we seek new perspectives today.
Practical Information
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Exhibition Title: Radical Harmony: Helene Kröller-Müller’s Neo-Impressionists
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Dates: 13 September 2025 – 8 February 2026
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Location: Sainsbury Wing, The National Gallery, London
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Collaboration: National Gallery and Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo
This is an exhibition that promises not only to illuminate the walls of the National Gallery but to resonate deeply with the questions and aspirations of our own age.
