A Sunday on La Grande Jatte
Michael Kavanagh
Post University
Georges Seurat is the man behind the invention of the Neo-Impressionist technique, commonly called Divisionism or Pointillism. His discovery was derived initially from new quasi-scientific perceptions on expression and color, but with time Seurat became more attracted to Gothic art and popular posters. Seurat’s artistic and painting theories influenced many individuals from Vincent van Gogh to Paul Signac. One of his works, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago, is one of the many outstanding artworks of the late 19th century (Foa, 2015, p. 63). The painting was completed in 1886, and it remained Seurat’s most popular work of art until he died in 1891. A Sunday on La Grande Jatte is a painting that was diversified from several single colors, and this article will explore the life and the famous work of George Seurat.
Seurat was in Paris in December 1859, and he loved drawing since he was young. At the age of sixteen, Seurat took his drawing passion to another level and began a course with Justin Lequien being his teacher. He further studied at the Ecole Des Beaux-Arts with Henri Lehmann, and in 1879, he left the institution and joined the military service. While serving in the military, Seurat realized that he was in love with sketching the beaches and seas. The next year Seurat went back to Paris and continued with his studies, but after some time, he abandoned studies and began traveling (Russell, 2019, p. 3). Together with Edmond-Francois Aman-Jean, they visited the island of La Grande Jatte in 1881, where Seurat’s inspiration for most of his artwork came from.
In 1883, Seurat’s first exhibition was displayed at the Salon in Paris. In the next year, Seurat displayed his first official exhibition. It was in 1884, when George Seurat began the “La Grande Jatte,” and the painting took two years to be completed. In “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” Seurat is illustrating the lifestyle of the people who inhabit in such an Island and what it would seem like on a Sunday afternoon. This is a painting that showcases his style and Pointillism technique. He is also showcasing much of his style of art, with the color scheme and the technique of pointillism. Seurat’s painting composition has a panorama and genuine feeling that makes it stand out, especially when one views it in a museum. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte shows individuals peacefully basking in a suburban park in the Seine River known as La Grande Jatte, a common place in Paris for upper and middle-class individuals in the 19th Century (Foa, 2015, p. 63). It is a painting that displays a normal retreat for Parisians in the 1880s. Relying on trees and umbrella for shade while facing the river, the individuals in Seurat’s painting seem to be having a good time away from the hustle and buzzle of urban life.
“La Grande Jatte” is an oil canvas that measures roughly 207.6 by 308cm. Through his painting, Seurat was able to capture the lifestyle of Parisians in the 19th century. He used various methods, and he began with tiny horizontal brush strokes of matching colors then incorporated small dots of corresponding colors. The painter appears to be using a wide range of colors as he combines monochromatic and liveliness. With what looks like a scientific accuracy, Seurat combines the aspects of light, form, and color to create an outstanding artwork. Motivated by the color theory, the artist used tiny dots of color, and through blending them, he formed a complete image (Foa, 2015, p. 65). Seurat’s artwork drawn on canvas is enclosed in a white wooden frame comparable to the one with which his painting is displayed today.
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte is the first artwork to use the pointillism technique entirely. Pointillism is a technique that entails combining millions of dots of various colors to form an image. The primary purpose or intention of creating this painting was to show the audience that painting using dots could produce a livelier color than painting using strokes. Apart from Seurat allowing his audience to see his works first-hand, he was ambitious enough to prove that he was uncontended with the artistic style used by his colleagues. As a painter, Seurat wanted to stand out with La Grande Jatte, and he succeeded. Felix Feneon initially used the phrase Neo-Impressionism in 1886 to label a19th-century style called Post-Impressionist painting, founded by Georges Seurat. The Post-Impressionism technique entailed “color-mixing,” called Pointillism (Foa, 2015, p. 66). This meant that instead of combining colors on a palette and spreading them on a canvas, Neo-Impressionist painters used various primary colors in the form of tiny spots on the canvas and permitted the audience’s eyes to do the combination. Seurat initially called his color technique Chromoluminarism rather than Divisionism.
A photo of A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte artwork.
Poem to describe A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte painting.
The over-all scene is amazing,
Captured on a sunny summer day
Displaying a the sense of happiness and joy
With the combination of its bright rich colors,
That exhibit the people’s sense of fashion in the 19th century.
The painting evokes a panorama and genuine feeling,
Created using the Pointillism technique,
With a combination of complementary colors,
Capturing the lifestyle of Parisians in the 19th century.
Giving the audience a feeling of calmness and contentment.
Words can’t explain how the painting is,
The love of artwork is what Seurat exhibits,
The drawing displaying a normal Sunday afternoon,
Attracting both positive and negative critics,
But influencing many artists in the artwork industry.
References
Foa, M. (2015). Georges Seurat: The Art of Vision. Yale UP.
Russell, P. (2019). Delphi complete paintings of Georges Seurat (Illustrated). Delphi Classics.