Saturday, January 8, 2011

Georges Seurat (December 2, 1859 – March 29, 1891)

                                                                                        
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
1884

Georges-Pierre Seurat is remembered as the father of Pointillism, though he was also an immensely talented Realist and Impressionist. Actually and apocryphally, I prefer his Realism and Impressionism. I don't know why, but Pointillism as a whole never appealed to me. I can appreciate works made in that dot-dot mode, but somehow I also feel this terrible sterility flow out of that imagery. What do you feel?

Angelica Chained to the Rock
1878

The Can-Can
1889-1890

Bathers in the Water
1883

Bouquet in a Vase
1878-1879 

Posted by EEH at 7:36 AM
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2 comments:

  1. JamesJanuary 18, 2011 at 9:46 PM

    I feel like the effects of Pointillism are mostly lost on us when we view a photograph of the painting. I think digital copies of paintings tend to vary in their effectiveness of transmitting the intended feelings, and Impressionism and Pointillism suffer especially. I look at Pointillist paintings in my local art museum and particularly enjoy seeing the real surface.

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  2. EEHJanuary 19, 2011 at 5:17 PM

    James, you're perfectly right: a photo is a poor substitute for the physical work. Personally, I can stare for hours just at the rising sweeps left by the painter's strokes. As for Pointillism, the painting at the very top, for example, A Sunday Afternoon, is one I've seen several times, and yet somehow have remained indifferent to. I suppose there's something a bit too mathematical about Pointillism in general (though far from totally), which makes me cold to it. But that certainly doesn't mean that I don't appreciate it objectively or historically.

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