neo-impressionism (pointillism) | ch. 2

pointillism:
-pseudo-scientific (optics)
  if colors are close enough together then the colors would mix
-absence of line
-absence of black (carried over from impressionism- shadows have color)

seurat: 
-bourgeois background
-trained in industrial, decorative, & fine arts
  sympathy to experience of factory laborer
-leftist sympathies, revolutionary in politics
-devotion to color theory could be part of scientific awareness of his historical period which was the belief that everything could be formulated & explained in terms of natural law

a sunday afternoon on the island of la grande jatte- george seurat
1884-6
the manifesto painting of neo-impressionism
rigid figures = forced
mechanical laying of paint can compare to halftone printing
utopian or dystopian?
democratic even-handed way of painting
critical of modern experience
interested in progress of modernity
tubular body shapes
running girl (representing hope) & dog show movement

COMPARED TO:

the sacred grove- pierre puvis de chavannes
1884
what "good" painting is at the time

aman-jean- seurat
1882-3
composted of dots
no lines

the echo- seurat
1883
composed of dots
no lines

a bathing place, asnieres- seurat
1883-4
delineates by color contrasts
rejected from paris salon
figures had sculptural roundness
soft contours
monumental in scale but scene features members of lower classes

the models- seurat
1886-8
consciously thinking about his own process
study/commentary on process, invites viewer in
same model from 3 different perspectives
drawing attention to edge of canvas = modern

the circus- seurat
1890-91

chahut (can can)- seurat
1889-90
gives modern experience (places of leisure)
repetition of line = patterning
legs are parallel by instrument
male figure looking up skirt

COMPARED TO:

jane avril- henri de toulouse-lautrec
1893

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au temps d'harmonie- paul signac
1894

• society of independents--> salon of independents

l'lle lacroix, rouen, mist- camille pissarro
1888

the dining room, breakfast- paul signac
1886-7