GEORGE SEURAT
(Zhorzh Soo-rah)
Art Masterpiece
Fulton Elementary - 3rd Grade
“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”
Seurat was
born in Paris
in 1859
His family was rich so he never
had to work for a living.
Seurat first studied sculpture
He enrolled in a school of art in
Paris.
Seurat spent a lot of time at the
Louvre copying art of famous
painters.
Seurat read a lot of books
and was interested in scientific
theories.
He was as much of a scientist as an
artist.
He studied the effects of color and
light and explored how light was
used in black and white drawings.
Seurat wanted to create the vibrant
colors that the Impressionsts used.
Seurat came up with his own method
of creating vibrant colors.
Seurat came up with his own method
of creating vibrant colors.
He would place small touches of
unmixed color side by side on the
canvas.
This meant that the eye mixed the
colors as the painting was observed.
Seurat began to paint using this
method.
This technique became known as
“pointillism”
Seurat applied his paint in thousands
of tiny dots.
“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”
His spots of color might have been squares,
triangles, circles or tiny lines.
“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”
“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”
“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”
“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”
“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”
Pointillism
A technique of painting in which
many tiny dots are combined to
form a picture.
When two colors are right next to
each other your eye mixes them in a
process called, “optical mixing.”
Using optical mixing rather than
physical mixing can create a brighter
picture.
“The Circus”
1891
By
Georges
Seurat
Pointillism Example
Using Soda Cans
Painting a pointillist piece is a slow
and painstaking process.
“Sunday in the Park”
* Very Large – 7 feet by 10 feet – it covers a wall!
* Took Seurat 2 years to finish
* Each dot is 1/16 of an inch – that’s 3,456,000 dots!!
Lots of artists tried to copy Seurat’s
work. But no one was ever as good
as he was.
Seurat died very suddenly at the age of
31 in 1891, apparently from meningitis.
He had a wife and a 1-year-old son.
(1859 – 1891)
Seurat left behind:
* Over 400 drawings
* 6 completed sketchbooks
* 60 canvas paintings
“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”
By George Seurat