GEORGE SEURAT

(Zhorzh Soo-rah)

Art Masterpiece Fulton Elementary - 3rd Grade

“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”

Seurat was born in Paris in 1859

His family was rich so he never had to work for a living.

Seurat first studied sculpture

He enrolled in a school of art in Paris.

Seurat spent a lot of time at the Louvre copying art of famous painters.

Seurat read a lot of books and was interested in scientific theories.

He was as much of a scientist as an artist.

He studied the effects of color and light and explored how light was used in black and white drawings.

Seurat wanted to create the vibrant colors that the Impressionsts used.

Seurat came up with his own method of creating vibrant colors.

Seurat came up with his own method of creating vibrant colors.

He would place small touches of unmixed color side by side on the canvas.

This meant that the eye mixed the colors as the painting was observed.

Seurat began to paint using this method.

This technique became known as “pointillism”

Seurat applied his paint in thousands of tiny dots.

“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”

His spots of color might have been squares, triangles, circles or tiny lines.

“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”

“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”

“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”

“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”

“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”

Pointillism A technique of painting in which many tiny dots are combined to form a picture.

When two colors are right next to each other your eye mixes them in a process called, “optical mixing.”

Using optical mixing rather than physical mixing can create a brighter picture.

“The Circus” 1891 By Georges Seurat

Pointillism Example Using Soda Cans

Painting a pointillist piece is a slow and painstaking process.

“Sunday in the Park”

* Very Large – 7 feet by 10 feet – it covers a wall!

* Took Seurat 2 years to finish * Each dot is 1/16 of an inch – that’s 3,456,000 dots!!

Lots of artists tried to copy Seurat’s work. But no one was ever as good as he was.

Seurat died very suddenly at the age of 31 in 1891, apparently from meningitis. He had a wife and a 1-year-old son.

(1859 – 1891)

Seurat left behind: * Over 400 drawings * 6 completed sketchbooks * 60 canvas paintings

“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” By George Seurat