His bold tests with coloring led directly to the Synthetist style of modern art , and the meaning of the subjects in his paintings helped create Primitivism and the return to the pastoral . His bold experimentation with coloring led directly to the Synthetist style of modern art while his expression of the inherent meaning of the subjects in his paintings , under the influence of the cloisonnist style , paved the way to Primitivism and the return to the pastoral .