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Seurat, Georges [French, 1859-1891] [ Biography | 19th Century Artists | Pointilist Artists ]
Three mini-bios:
- Georges Seurat
(born December 2, 1859, Paris died March 29, 1891, Paris),
was a painter and founder of the 19th-century French school of
Neo-Impressionism whose technique for portraying the play of light
using tiny brushstrokes of contrasting colors became known as
Pointillism. Using this techique, he created huge compositions with
tiny, detached strokes of pure color too small to be distinguished
when looking at the entire work but making his paintings shimmer with
brilliance. Works in this style include
Une Baignade
(1883-84) and
Un dimanche apr�s-midi � l'Ile de la Grande Jatte
(1884-86).
- Seurat, Georges (1859–91). A French painter who
was a leader in the neo-impressionist movement of the late 19th century,
Georges Seurat is the ultimate example of the artist as scientist. He spent
his life studying color theories and the effects of different linear
structures. His 500 drawings alone establish Seurat as a great master,
but he will be remembered for his technique called pointillism, or
divisionism, which uses small dots or strokes of contrasting color to
create subtle changes in form.
- Georges-Pierre Seurat was born on Dec. 2, 1859, in Paris. He studied at
the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1878 and 1879. His teacher was a disciple of
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.
Young Seurat was strongly influenced by
Rembrandt and
Francisco de Goya.
After a year of military service at Brest, Seurat exhibited his drawing
Aman-Jean
at the official Salon in 1883. Panels from his painting
Bathing at Asnieres
were refused by the Salon the next year, so Seurat and several other
artists founded the Societe des Artistes Independants. His famous canvas
Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grande Jatte
was the centerpiece of an exhibition in 1886. By then Seurat was spending
his winters in Paris, drawing and producing one large painting each year
and his summers on France's northern coast. In his short life Seurat produced
seven monumental paintings, 60 smaller ones, drawings, and sketchbooks. He
kept his private life very secret, and not until his sudden death in Paris
on March 29, 1891, did his friends learn of his mistress, who was the model
for his painting
Young Woman Holding a Powder Puff.
The image that accompanies this article is a Portrait
of Georges Seurat, by Charles Maurin, painted circa 1885-90.
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