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World of Art
Seurat
"A finely wrought, highly precious piece of work. Russell presents all the available evidence in a highly readable way" is how The Sunday Times described the author's detailed account of Seurat's tragically short life and artistic development. 225 illus., 52 in color.
286 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
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About the author
John Russell
36 books3 followersJohn Russell CBE (22 January 1919 – 23 August 2008) was an English art critic and journalist.
He started his career at the Tate Gallery in 1940, but moved to the country after the gallery was bombed during World War II.
He worked in Naval Intelligence for the Admiralty where he met author Ian Fleming, who helped to secure Russell a reviewing position at The Sunday Times in 1950.
Russell was chief art critic at the New York Times from 1982 to 1990.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
He started his career at the Tate Gallery in 1940, but moved to the country after the gallery was bombed during World War II.
He worked in Naval Intelligence for the Admiralty where he met author Ian Fleming, who helped to secure Russell a reviewing position at The Sunday Times in 1950.
Russell was chief art critic at the New York Times from 1982 to 1990.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 4, 2014
Another in the excellent Thames and Hudson series "The World
of Art" where there are just not enough colour prints for my
liking but in the case of Seurat who died young (in his early
30s) and whose work consisted of several mammoth canvases, it
is a chance to see how each painting evolved. Seurat was
intensely private and secretive - not even revealing how he
came to paint in his unique way, so Russell had to go to interviews
with Paul Signac (in 1900), a great friend of Seurat's, who
reveals the origins of his style. So secretive was he that
friends and family were astonished to learn, after his death, that
not only did he have a mistress (who managed to turn everyone
against her when she contested the will) but he also had a
baby son who died from the same disease (meningitis or diphtheria)
only two weeks after his father's death.
The book begins with the sensational reception of "Une Baignade,
Asnieres" at the 1884 opening of the Salon des Artistes Independents
(which Seurat helped to form). At only 24 Seurat had shown that
he was heir apparent of the great picture architects of the past.
Measuring 79 inches by 118 inches, the public were amazed at the
unwieldiness and eccentricity of it. His earlier sketches dating
from 1876-77 when he was a teenager shows an amazingly gifted
draughtsman at work, even though he was not thought to be talented
by his teachers (47 in a class of 80). There are a couple of pages
of sketches of a gentleman showing how Seurat evolved his drawings.
When Seurat was beginning to be known the art world was in turmoil
with Manet and Renoir almost at their career's end and most critics
being convinced that Impressionism was dead - "we had had enough
of the lights and colours that stun us". Young artists then turned
to Puvis De Chavannes, a traditional and now obscure painter and
Seurat found in him, as well as Ingres and Holbein, an artist to
worship.
Russell shows through different sketches, some scribbled in the
corners of art tablets how Seurat had in mind his big canvases
years before he started on them. Fortunately there is also a
reproduction of Seurat's first painting in oils "Sous-bois a'
Pontaubert" (1883) and it is truly beautiful, the stark and spindly
trees against the green foliage. On the negative side, Russell
doesn't mention Pointillism very much, the art movement in which
Seurat is synonymous. He refers to Seurat as part of the "divisionist"
group and he did read and study the scientific theories of Charles
Blanc and Ogden Rood. Looking at divisionist paintings ie Van
Gogh's "Self Portrait With Green Felt Hat", it seems to employ the
same style that Seurat used in his drafts or rough copies. With
his finished paintings ie "La Grand Jatte" Seurat's style is a series
of minute dots.
All in all, if you love Seurat's works, this book is not really
recommended. Only for the serious artist. I feel a spontaneousness
and awe when I see his work in books etc, he was one of a kind,
unique and to have each blade of grass analysed was a bit
disheartening and especially when the artist had almost no private
life. Apparently he thought himself superior to most of his
contemporaries and his secretiveness and taciturnity derived from
the fact that he was jealous of even his friends finding out his
technique secrets and riding on his coat-tails to fame and fortune.
Even so, his personality was strong and his friends hung on his
every word and if they suddenly espoused different opinions, Russell
feels sure that the opinions were probably Seurat's to begin with.
Still doesn't make for riveting reading.
of Art" where there are just not enough colour prints for my
liking but in the case of Seurat who died young (in his early
30s) and whose work consisted of several mammoth canvases, it
is a chance to see how each painting evolved. Seurat was
intensely private and secretive - not even revealing how he
came to paint in his unique way, so Russell had to go to interviews
with Paul Signac (in 1900), a great friend of Seurat's, who
reveals the origins of his style. So secretive was he that
friends and family were astonished to learn, after his death, that
not only did he have a mistress (who managed to turn everyone
against her when she contested the will) but he also had a
baby son who died from the same disease (meningitis or diphtheria)
only two weeks after his father's death.
The book begins with the sensational reception of "Une Baignade,
Asnieres" at the 1884 opening of the Salon des Artistes Independents
(which Seurat helped to form). At only 24 Seurat had shown that
he was heir apparent of the great picture architects of the past.
Measuring 79 inches by 118 inches, the public were amazed at the
unwieldiness and eccentricity of it. His earlier sketches dating
from 1876-77 when he was a teenager shows an amazingly gifted
draughtsman at work, even though he was not thought to be talented
by his teachers (47 in a class of 80). There are a couple of pages
of sketches of a gentleman showing how Seurat evolved his drawings.
When Seurat was beginning to be known the art world was in turmoil
with Manet and Renoir almost at their career's end and most critics
being convinced that Impressionism was dead - "we had had enough
of the lights and colours that stun us". Young artists then turned
to Puvis De Chavannes, a traditional and now obscure painter and
Seurat found in him, as well as Ingres and Holbein, an artist to
worship.
Russell shows through different sketches, some scribbled in the
corners of art tablets how Seurat had in mind his big canvases
years before he started on them. Fortunately there is also a
reproduction of Seurat's first painting in oils "Sous-bois a'
Pontaubert" (1883) and it is truly beautiful, the stark and spindly
trees against the green foliage. On the negative side, Russell
doesn't mention Pointillism very much, the art movement in which
Seurat is synonymous. He refers to Seurat as part of the "divisionist"
group and he did read and study the scientific theories of Charles
Blanc and Ogden Rood. Looking at divisionist paintings ie Van
Gogh's "Self Portrait With Green Felt Hat", it seems to employ the
same style that Seurat used in his drafts or rough copies. With
his finished paintings ie "La Grand Jatte" Seurat's style is a series
of minute dots.
All in all, if you love Seurat's works, this book is not really
recommended. Only for the serious artist. I feel a spontaneousness
and awe when I see his work in books etc, he was one of a kind,
unique and to have each blade of grass analysed was a bit
disheartening and especially when the artist had almost no private
life. Apparently he thought himself superior to most of his
contemporaries and his secretiveness and taciturnity derived from
the fact that he was jealous of even his friends finding out his
technique secrets and riding on his coat-tails to fame and fortune.
Even so, his personality was strong and his friends hung on his
every word and if they suddenly espoused different opinions, Russell
feels sure that the opinions were probably Seurat's to begin with.
Still doesn't make for riveting reading.
January 7, 2023
Found the writing very pedantic and the pictures not of the best quality. But was surprised at how much of Seurat's work I was familiar with!
January 22, 2025
One of the better art books I have read. It, of course, is easy to analyze Seurat with his whole approach being the "science of art"—an idea I am very sympathetic to.
October 8, 2007
A good book about Seurat, it is easy to read and full of interesting facts about the great artist. The colour plates were wonderful and well... I just love Seurat.
October 19, 2009
I love Seurat's work. I'd like to have bought a more extensive book, but this was what I could afford. It has information and I like it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews