Georges Seurat
By: Rebecca Emanuel
Biographical Information
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Born on December 2, 1859
Full name: Georges-Pierre Seurat
Youngest of 3 children
He was born into a very rich family in Paris. His
father was a wealthy lawyer named
Chrsostome-Antoine Seurat. His mother,
Ernestine Faivre, came from a rich Parisian
family.
• He died at the age of 31 in 1891. (meningitis)
Biographical Information
• 1870s-Took private drawing lessons from his uncle,
Paul Haumonte, a painter.
• 1875- Studied drawing under the sculptor Justin
Lequien.
• 1878-1879-Studied art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in
Paris.
• Seurat left the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1879 to
perform his military service in Brest.
• He founded Neo-Impressionism
• Created the principle of use of
Pointalism
Influential Life Experiences
• He traveled
with EdmondFrancois Aman-Jean
to the island of La
Grande Jatte. This
island was the
inspiration for many
of his future works.
Influential life experiences
• Seurat found lots of inspiration during his
military career; much of his inspiration came
from the beaches and sea. He created many
different
paintings and
drawings at
this time.
Artist’s Art Movement
• Seurat has been noted as the founder of NeoImpressionism. (Post Impressionism)
• Major example as an “artist as a scientist.” All his
life he studied color and theories and the effects
of where they should be placed for different
effects.
• The Pointillism technique, in which small dots of
color are grouped to make more colors than that
were used, was adopted by his followers, the
Neo-Impressionists.
Artist Art Movement
• Neo-Impressionism was the movement of
applying separate colors to the surface so that
the eye mixed the colors rather than the artist on
his or her palette.
• It started in France and flourished from 1886 to
1906.
• Seurat caused the changing point from the
Impressionism movement to Neo-Impressionism.
He started using pointillism in his works to depict
a new style of art. Many other artist followed and
started using new ways that were not acceptable
in the Impressionism Era.
Artist’s Art Movement
• Neo-Impressionism led into the Fauvism and
Expressionism era. This movement changes
color, light, and texture for a desired effect.
Georges Seurat affected this movement
because the pointillism technique was still
used, and so was the blending of colors.
Artist’s Art Movement
• Locations where he worked: Seurat moved
wherever he found inspiration. He worked in the
war and on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Many of
his works were completed in his personal studio.
• Other influential artists at this time: Paul Signac,
Camille Pissarro, and Lucien Pissarro.
• His most famous art works are Bathers at
Asnières and A Sunday Afternoon on the Island
of La Grande Jatte.
1884
Oil On Canvas
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte
Le Bec du Hoc,
Grandcamp
1885
Oil On Canvas
The Lighthouse at Honfleur
1886
Oil on
Canvas
Le port de Gravelines
Oil On Canvas
1890
Young Woman
Powdering Herself
1890
Oil on Canvas
Oil on canvas
The Circus
1891