GEORGES PIERRE
SEURAT (1859-91)
 
G.P. Seurat: Tarde de domingo en la isla de la Grande Jatte, 1884-1886, (detalle)
G.P. Seurat, Sunday Afternoon
at Grande Jatte Island, (detail),
1884-1886, oil on canvas, 207´6 x
308 cm, Chicago, The Art Institute
of Chicago.

 
     He was the promoter of this movement. He had a methodical character. His worries on intellectual fields could have taken him to practice this style. He was interested in colors: that is why he read treatises on color and light. He was based on Charles Blanc's work: Grammar of Arts on Drawing to deduce that "Color treated with fixed laws could be tought as well as music". He delicately dealt with subjects of complementarity of colors; he learnt from older painters as Delacroix and Verones and was interested in Leonardo's writings
 
     According to Seurat the whole practice should be directed by observation: painting with pure and complementary colors is really important. As we look at a pointillist work, retina begins to fuse points of color. Basis of color is defined by division of tone in component and integral parts.
 
     Pointillism is the departure towards 20th century art. It means painting as a syonym of mental elaboration rather than a single execution. Therefore Parisian criticism told about "Romantic and intuitive Impressionism" applied to first Impressionism, but also about "Scientific Impressionism" applied to Pointillism.
 
 
  • Most significant works by Seurat:
     
    G.P. Seurat: Un baño en Asnières, 1883-1884.  G.P. Seurat, A Bath at Asnières, 1883-1884, oil on canvas, 201 x 300 cm, London, National Gallery.
    G.P. Seurat: Tarde de domingo en la isla de la Grande Jatte, 1884-1886.  G.P. Seurat, Sunday Afternoon at Grande Jatte Island, (detail), 1884-1886, oil on canvas, 207´6 x 308 cm, Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection.
    G.P. Seurat: Modelo de espaldas, 1887.  G.P. Seurat, Back of the Model, 1887, oil on wood, 24´5 x 15´5 cm, Paris; Musée d´Orsay.
    G.P. Seurat: Modelo de pie, c.1887.  G.P. Seurat, Model Standing Up, c.1887, oil on wood, 25 x 16 cm, Paris, Musée d´Orsay.
    G.P. Seurat: Modelo sentada de perfil, c.1887.  G.P. Seurat, Sitting Model Profile , c.1887,oil on wood, 25 x 16 cm, Paris, Musée d´Orsay.
    G.P. Seurat: Las modelos, 1886-1888.  G.P. Seurat, Models, 1886-1888, oil on canvas, 200 x 250 cm, Merion, PA, The Barnes Foundation.
    G.P. Seurat: Port-en-Bessin, antepuerto con pleamar, 1888.  G.P. Seurat, Port-en-Bessin, Foreport with High Tide, 1888, oil on canvas, 67 x 82 cm, Paris, Musée d´Orsay.
    G.P. Seurat: Joven empolvándose, c.1888-1890.  G.P. Seurat, Young Girl Powdering Her Face, c.1888-1890, oil on canvas, 95´5 x 79´5 cm, London, Courtauld Gallery.
    G.P. Seurat: El Chahut, 1889-1890.  G.P. Seurat, Chahut, 1889-1890, oil on canvas, 169 x 139 cm, Otterlo, Kröller-Müller Museum.
    G.P. Seurat: El circo, 1890-1891.  G.P. Seurat, The Circus, 1890-1891, oil on canvas, 185´5 x 152´5 cm, Paris, Musée d´Orsay.

     

    Written by:
    Beatriz Aragonés Escobar.
    Licenciada in History of Art


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