georges seurat research analysis

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Recommended: Impressionism and post impressionism compared

Georges Seurat painted “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” from 1884 to 1889. This painting was painted in the style called pointillism. Seurat wanted to achieve a painting that contained a picture when viewed from far away, but when seen up close would appear as mere dots. “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” is a masterpiece that has been called by many critics “an iconic symbol of the pointillist movement” (Casadio).
To begin, pointillism stemmed off from impressionism in the post-impressionism era in the late 1800’s. While pointillist painters preferred the same subjects to paint as impressionists, they veered off when it came to how to approach the painting as far as time and effort. Pointillists like Seurat worked on their art with remarkable care and preciseness. Seurat spent an entire year just planning out his large painting. He made “many sketched drafts before he arrived on the final plan for the painted piece,” (Artble). Seurat's masterpiece had a lengthy period of planning which involved 28 drawings, 28 panels and even three large canvases. Furthermore, some of the sections and figures of this piece needed even more precision to detail and had “specific pre-planning studies, such as the seated women in the foreground,” (Artble). It is clear that Seurat was making a clear breakaway from the carefree painting style involved in impressionism. He wanted to make paintings that required hard work, trial and error, and even some mathematics.
After the planning, Seurat then began to actually paint his masterpiece. This took years because of his slow, controlled methods. He chose what colors and materials to use with great care. The painting’s surface showcases Seurat’s careful choosing of...

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...illist painter due to this painting and its success. The time and effort he put into this work of art is obvious to anyone who views it. With some research, it is astounding to learn of Seurat’s unique practices and planning methods. All of those items led to this masterpiece. This piece will be an important part of art history for many years.

Works Cited
Beckett, Wendy, and Patricia Wright. Sister Wendy's American Masterpieces. New York: DK
Pub., 2000. Print.
Casadio, F. "Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy Elucidates The Elusive Darkening Of Zinc
Potassium Chromate In Georges Seurat's A Sunday On La Grande Jatte-1884." Analytical
& Bioanalytical Chemistry 399.9 (2011): 2909-2920. Academic Search Complete. Web.
14 Apr. 2014
"A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte." Artble: The Home of Passionate Art
Lovers. Artble, 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

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