Seurat

by Hajo Düchting

Georges Seurat (1859-1891) was only 31 when he died, but his short life blazed with inspiration, vision, and creativity and altered the course of European painting.

A keen student of the interplay between light and color, Seurat studied Delacroix, in particular, as a student at the �cole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His studies led him to develop the concept of Neoimpressionism, which in turn, resulted in the radical approach of Divisionism. This technique, which informs his two best-known pieces Bathers at Asni�res and A Sunday on La Grande Jatte - 1884, used pointillism to laboriously develop images that shimmered with luminescence and movement.

In this accessible and enjoyable introduction to Seurat's life and work, we meet an artist driven by a profound need to articulate nature, harmony, and the simple pleasures of life in dense, kinetic tones and lines.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Biography

95 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1999

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent intro to Seurat. Really well illustrated.

[klay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cette monographie est claire et synthétique et constitue une bonne introduction à l’œuvre de Georges Seurat. La qualité des images ne rend toutefois pas justice à la précision des pointillés. La disposition du texte et des images est aussi peu confortable puisque les œuvres évoquées sont souvent situées à plusieurs pages d’écart. Mais le contenu reste intéressant pour qui souhaite se familiariser avec l’œuvre de ce superbe peintre.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

A competent and affordable introduction to the life, work and impact of the artist, the inventor of the Pointillist style of painting. it's slightly irritating that the text is often discussing a painting reproduced several pages away, but - y'know, books in this series don't cost more than some paperback novels, so don't be complaining too hard...

Seurat had a number of important influences, including the contemporary Impressionists, but perhaps the most significant were not artists but scientists. He absorbed all the latest theories of colour and used them to develop the extraordinary effects of Pointillism - paintings composed entirely of dots of colour - usually of unmixed, single pigment paints, relying on proximity of dots and distance of the observer to create mixed colours in the eye, which the science had demonstrated gave a brighter, less muddy colour effect.

Oddly, his genius was better recognised during his lifetime than in the immediate aftermath: Thirty or so years after his death, The Metropolitan Museum of Art turned down the purchase of one of his greatest works - it was bought instead by the Art Institute of Chicago, where it still hangs. Now, of course, he's considered to have been exceptional and a sad loss, dying young, but leaving a huge impact on the development of Western art - the second step towards Abstract art after the original Impressionists. It's a pity that no sane format of book can ever really do justice to the Pointillist technique when fully reproducing even modestly sized paintings, but this gives you an idea - go see the real things if you ever have opportunity.

[Omama. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Art is harmony. Harmony is the analogy of contrasts, the analogy of similarities, of tone, of shade, of line, considered by the dominant, and under the influence of happy, calm, or sad lighting combinations."

[asia (parker’s version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Low-key enjoyed this book

[Peer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Appassionante immersione nelle teorie del colore di fine Ottocento e nei tentativi di dare un'impostazione scientifica alla pittura, da parte di questo raffinato artista, il cui valore nella Storia dell'Arte è probabilmente superiore a quello di altri ben più popolari. Una affascinante introduzione, sia per il testo che commenta dettagliatamente le opere principali, sia per l'apparato iconografico, di qualità. Manca però una bibliografia.

[Catherine Woodman]

After seeing a Seurat exhibit I felt that I absolutely needed a book full of his work to remember it by.

[Khoi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a privileged one compared to his peers. And omg would you look at that butt.