Pointillism

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

1884, Oil on canvas; 207.6 x 308 cm

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat, 1884-86Seurat’s most famous painting took over 2 years to complete. It measures approx. 2m x 3m.

Georges Seurat• Born on December 2, 1859, in Paris• Lived to be 31 year old• Interested in optical and colour theory,

and took a scientific approach to painting

• Contrasted miniature dots of colour that form a single hue to the viewer’s eye

• Pointillism = tiny dots of colour place side-by-side

• Believed tiny dots of colour would make the hues more brilliant and powerful than if applied in brushstrokes

On display at the Art Institute of Chicago

La Seine à la Grande Jatte1888, Oil on canvasThe Seine and la Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat - Springtime

1888,Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium

Landscape = outdoor scene

Gray weather, Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat, 1888,

The Eiffel Tower by Georges Seurat, 1889, California Palace of the Legion of Honour, San Francisco

The Circus1891, Oil on canvas

The Circus by Georges Seurat

Details from

Details from The Circus by Georges Seurat

Detail from La Parade1889, Oil on canvas

Create… Pointillism with Markers

More Experimenting with Pointillism• Place dots of different colours side-by-side to create visual

‘blends’• Consider the light source with highlights & shadows (value

= lights/tints & darks/shades)• Create a painting applying paint with a round brush or cotton swabs in small, side-by-side dots

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