Transcript Document

Georges Seurat
Le Chahut
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.
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.
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.
Some of his most famous paintings
include:
-Bathing at Asnieres
-A Sunday Afternoon on the Island
of La Grande Jatte
-Le Chahut
-Eden Concert
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.
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:
“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?”
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]?
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.
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.
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.
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
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.
In the final two years of Seurat’s 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.
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.
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.
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.
Note how the repeating patterns reinforce and
echo one another.
The shape of the bows on the dancers’ shoes
matches that of the gentleman’s 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.
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.
What do you think?
Is this scientific approach to creating art
creative and visionary?
Or, is this calculating approach too impersonal
and lacks emotion?
While Seurat alters mood and
expression through the direction of
line, his harmony of color is more
intuitive than scientific.
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 painting’s surface.
Following harmonious, chromatic principles,
Seurat applied blue-green colors to the
shadow side of objects, creating a powerful,
visual effect of chromo-luminescence.
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 viewer’s eye.
This stunning effect is only achieved through
painstakingly careful choice of color based on
chromatic principles.
Le Chahut
1889-90
Oil on Canvas
66 1/8 x 55 1/2 in
Kroller-Muller Museum
Otterlo
“Monsieur Seurat,” wrote Felix
Feneon in 1889, “knows very
well that a line, independent of
its representational role, has an
appraisable abstract value.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
• 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.