Georges-Pierre Seurat, 1859-1891, is considered the first “Neo-Impressionist” and an innovator of 19th century art using the “Pointillist” style of painting.
“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”, (1884-1886) – this 10 foot wide painting is perhaps Suerat’s most famous work. (Stephen Sondheim’s Tony Award winning Broadway musical, “Sunday in the Park with George” is based upon it. The finale with a choral piece called “Sunday” is beautiful!)
The painting “shows members of each of the social classes participating in various park activities. The tiny juxtaposed dots of multi-colored paint allow the viewer’s eye to blend colors optically, rather than having the colors blended on the canvas or pre-blended as a material pigment.”
“Michael Eugene Chevreul, a French chemist, discovered that two colors juxtaposed, slightly overlapping or very close together, would have the effect of another color when seen from a distance. The discovery of this phenomenon became the basis for the Pointillist technique of the Neo impressionist painters.”
BTW: I saw some of Seurat’s other work at MOMA and was impressed. They are lovely, and I can only imagine the patience it took to create them. Close up, you can see the dots of paint so precisely arranged in order to get the desired color. Amazing.
The Museum of Modern Art
(212) 708-9400, 11 West 53 Street, NYC
[ad#Adsense Link Unit]