S is for Seurat
(2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891)
French Neo-Impressionist; founder of the Pointillism school (also known as "Divisionism")
George Seurat, quiet and intense, had been classically trained at the École des Beaux-Arts. He was attracted to the Impressionists, with their different approach to art. His feeling that Impressionism lacked discipline (combined with study of scientific writings on color theory) led him to create a new style: pointillism. In this, tiny, detached brushstrokes (dots, really) of pure color are placed closely to one another on the canvas. Together they create a shining, harmonious whole composition.
“Some say they see poetry in my paintings; I see only science.”
Un Dimanche d’été à l’Île de la Grande Jatte
(his most famous work)
1884–1886
Seurat spent over two years painting
A Sunday Afternoon, focusing meticulously on the
landscape of the park. He reworked the original as well as completed numerous preliminary drawings and oil sketches. He would go and sit in the park and make numerous sketches of the various figures in order to perfect their form. He concentrated on the issues of colour, light, and
form. The painting is approximately 2 by 3 meters (6 ft 10 in x 10 ft 1 in) in size. Read more about this painting
here.
Un Dimanche d’été à l’Île de la Grande Jatte
Detail
1888
La Siene a Courbevoie
c. 1885-86
“Under a blazing mid-afternoon summer sky, we see the Seine flooded with sunshine . . . people are strolling, others are sitting or stretched out lazily on the bluish grass.” ~ Georges Seurat
Pierrot with a White Pipe. (Aman-Jean)
1883
“Originality depends only on the character of the drawing and the vision peculiar to each artist.”
The Channel of Gravelines, the Direction to the Sea
1890
Young Woman Powdering Herself
c. 1888-1890.
Invitation to the Sideshow (La Parade de Cirque).
