Georges Seurat, who was granted a lifetime of only thirty-one years, took a scientific approach to painting, to the use of colour. Already as a pupil he was occupied with color theories. While he was initially associated with the Impressionists, Seurat's paintings were not systematic enough. Unlike many of his fellow painters, he was able to devote himself to his work without material worries thanks to an inheritance.
His methodical nature, the Impressionist colleagues called him "notary", was reflected in his paintings when he gradually developed Pointillism. He placed individual dots of pure colour next to each other in a careful manner in order to make the colours appear more intense. When viewed from a distance, these colour dots blend into a diverse whole. Each picture required extensive preparatory work to determine the effect of the colours and to compose a whole.
Seurat's most famous painting "Ein Sonntagnachmittag auf der Insel La Grande Jatte" cost him two years of work, carefully placed point by point on the approx. 2x3 meter large surface. The figures seem motionless, uninvolved. Seurat was not interested in a lifelike representation, which earned him criticism from many impressionists. The facets of the water, the green and the shadows seem fascinatingly different depending on the distance. Because of his early death from diphtheria, Seurat's work is manageable, but he set the impulse for a new art movement.
Georges Seurat, who was granted a lifetime of only thirty-one years, took a scientific approach to painting, to the use of colour. Already as a pupil he was occupied with color theories. While he was initially associated with the Impressionists, Seurat's paintings were not systematic enough. Unlike many of his fellow painters, he was able to devote himself to his work without material worries thanks to an inheritance.
His methodical nature, the Impressionist colleagues called him "notary", was reflected in his paintings when he gradually developed Pointillism. He placed individual dots of pure colour next to each other in a careful manner in order to make the colours appear more intense. When viewed from a distance, these colour dots blend into a diverse whole. Each picture required extensive preparatory work to determine the effect of the colours and to compose a whole.
Seurat's most famous painting "Ein Sonntagnachmittag auf der Insel La Grande Jatte" cost him two years of work, carefully placed point by point on the approx. 2x3 meter large surface. The figures seem motionless, uninvolved. Seurat was not interested in a lifelike representation, which earned him criticism from many impressionists. The facets of the water, the green and the shadows seem fascinatingly different depending on the distance. Because of his early death from diphtheria, Seurat's work is manageable, but he set the impulse for a new art movement.
Page 1 / 3