Georges Seurat

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Georges Seurat

• Le Chahut

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Georges Seurat was born on December 2, 1859 in
Paris. His father was a native to Champagne, and
his mother was a Parisian. He lived at 100
Boulevard Magenta with his parents, a brother,
Emile, and a sister, Marie-Berthe.
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In 1875 Seurat took drawing lessons under the
sculptor Justin Lequien. Seurat also took
lessons from an artist named Ingres. Ingres
didn't paint like Seurat did. But he was the
praised student of Jacques-Louis David. Ingres
was known for his meticulous working procedure in
his works.
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Seurat spent his life studying color theories and
the effects of different linear structures. He
developed the style of painting known as
Pointillism. He had 500 works of art of his own
and he was proclaimed to be a master. But it
isn't just the number of his works that make him
an expert. His magnificent pointillist pieces
make him the famous artist that he is today.
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Some of his most famous paintings
include -Bathing at Asnieres -A Sunday Afternoon
on the Island of La Grande Jatte -Le Chahut
-Eden Concert
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Seurat was not just interested in the way that
the colors were put onto the painting or the
painting itself. He was mostly concentrating on
the science in the picture and the optical mixing
of the colors. Before actually painting the
picture, he would sketch out parts of his artwork
so that the models would not have to wait forever
while he found the exact color.
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Seurat had many people who really didn't like the
new work that he was introducing, but Paul
Signac, a fellow artist (b.1863, d. 1935),
recognized that the technique was very artistic
and complicated. In one of his journal entries
he says of Seurat
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He surveyed the scene and has made these very
important contributions his black and white, his
harmony of lines, his composition, his contrast
and harmony of color, even his frames. What more
can you ask of a painter?
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A pointillist himself, Signac also commented on
the importance of color purity in a pointillist
piece I attach more and more importance to the
purity of the brushstroke - I try to give it
maximum purity and intensity. Any defiling
sleight of hand or smearing disgusts me. When
one can paint with jewels, why use manure?
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Each time that my brushstroke happens to come up
against another, not yet dry, and this mixture
produces a dirty tone, I feel great physical
disgust! It is this passion for beautiful colors
which make us paint as we do...and not the love
of the dot, as foolish people say. Pointillist
artists appreciate the phenomenal optical mixing
of the colors themselves.
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Seurat developed Pointillism. He rejected broad
brushstrokes of mixed color and instead applied
tiny "points" of pure color to his canvas,
relying upon the observer's eye to mix the
colors. The result was extraordinary, but the
method, painstaking.
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Whether you like the "fuzziness" of pointillist
paintings or not, note the concentration that a
pointillist artist would have to have to create a
piece that would have to be pleasing to the eye
as well as scientifically stimulating.
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A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande
Jatte
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This scene, with over forty figures and their
surroundings, took the artist almost two years to
complete, during which he refused to lunch with
close friends lest they distract him from his
work. Today it
remains his best-known masterpiece
and a monument to dedication.
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In the final two years of Seurats life (d.
1891), his work was invaded by a frenzied
gesticulation. Seurat studied and collected
Jules Cheret's posters, and their compositional
form is felt in Le Chahut, the cover art on the
Reality Through the Arts textbook.
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The curled mustache repeated in the dancer's
turned-up lips, the decorations and ribbons on
the dancers' shoulders and shoes, and the strange
similarity of male and female legs expresses the
taste for peculiar detail. This exuberance,
however, does not conceal the extreme rigor of
the composition.
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Seurat inscribes his network of diagonals on a
regular geometrical background. A figure in the
foreground stabilizes the composition. Angles
seem to guide and support the figures upward and
give them balance. The precision of the painting
is captivating.
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The artist, in his studies of Chinese art,
learned that upward turned lines in human faces
have a powerful effect on the mood of the
painting. Seurat not only made upward lines on
the dancers lips and eyes but also the
mustaches, eyes and eyebrows of the gentleman in
the painting.
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Note how the repeating patterns reinforce and
echo one another. The shape of the bows on the
dancers shoes matches that of the gentlemans
mustache. Breaks occur between the background and
foreground, and in the intermediary space of Le
Chahut, Seurat arranges a series of arc-shaped
curves created by the dancers legs.
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Even though it is not readily apparent at first,
Seurat was very careful that this work did not
contain any horizontal lines or right angles.
Each angle is placed at exacting complementary
positions to achieve true harmony in this
wonderful work.
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What do you think? Is this scientific approach
to creating art creative and visionary? Or, is
this calculating approach too impersonal and
lacks emotion?
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While Seurat alters mood and expression through
the direction of line, his harmony of color is
more intuitive than scientific.
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Orange and yellow-orange dominate the overall
color of the piece. The gas lamps, in the upper
left of the painting, are the primary light
source and flood a yellow-orange light over the
entire paintings surface. Following harmonious,
chromatic principles, Seurat applied blue-green
colors to the shadow side of objects, creating a
powerful, visual effect of chromo-luminescence.
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Seurat believed that a canvas should be a screen
on which colored light shows through, creating a
luminous glowing effect. Viewed at the proper
distance, the small dots of color mix in the
viewers eye. This stunning effect is only
achieved through painstakingly careful choice of
color based on chromatic principles.
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Le Chahut 1889-90 Oil on Canvas 66 1/8 x 55 1/2
in Kroller-Muller Museum Otterlo
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Monsieur Seurat, wrote Felix Feneon in 1889,
knows very well that a line, independent of its
representational role, has an appraisable
abstract value.
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When artists talk about value, sometimes they are
referring to the monetary worth of an artwork,
but often they are talking about the degree of
light or dark that they see. For example,
something light and bright is high value, and
something dark is low value. Artists also use the
word tone the same way.
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The human eye can distinguish about 200 or so
shades of grey with training. When people are
initially learning how to draw, they often draw
using only four or five different shades. As
their observation and drawing skills improve, the
number of shades they use increases.
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The trick to being able to draw using light and
dark is to start seeing the world as if through
the lens of an old black and white
camera. Everywhere you look, you will see
patches of light and dark. If you are skilled at
this, you may be able to draw successfully
without ever using a line -- your entire drawing
will be patches of light and dark.
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When Seurat drew, all of his time was spent
observing patches of light. When he looked at a
child's shirt, he
forgot what he was looking at and saw a patch of
high value instead. By forgetting what he was
looking at, and drawing the shades he perceived,
he was able to create wonderful drawings using
only black and white.
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Often the best materials for making value
drawings are ones that produce deep, rich blacks,
such as 6B pencils, charcoal, or conté crayons.
Richer blacks create a more impressive drawing
because the contrast between the white of the
paper and the black of the drawing medium is
greater it has more snap. The disadvantage
to using these drawing media is that they are
really smudgy! Try not to lean you hand on your
paper when you draw. And be careful of your
clothing - charcoal can be difficult to wash out.
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• Tips for Good Value Drawings
• Start by blocking in the main areas of light
  and dark.
• Don't let your drawing become too dark too
  quickly -- it can be hard to get lighter later.
• Comparison is important look at areas of equal
  value around your drawing to see if they match.

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• If you're using a hard- or fine-tipped drawing
  material, then create darkness by building up
  layers of lines, dots, dashes, or other marks.
• This is still useful if you're using a softer
  medium, like charcoal or pastel, but you can also
  vary drawing pressure.
• Using an eraser is useful to add light areas to
  a drawing. You can also draw in light areas with
  a white pencil crayon or pastel. Try drawing
  with chalk on black paper.