Monday 22 September 2014

Some Dotty Art for you today!


A Sunday Afternoon on the Grande Jatte
 
Pointillism was developed by a French artist Seurat in the 19th century.  He was experimenting with different ways of representing colour in paintings.  He replaced brushstrokes with little dots of colour. 


He applied the theory that colours from the opposite sides of the colour wheel put right next to each other make each colour brighter and better.  His small dots were all separate from each other on a bright white base.  It is the viewers' eyes that blend the colour.
Seurat was truly innovative.  His paintings are very distinctive.
The painting at the top of this post is his most famous work – A Sunday Afternoon on the Grande Jatte.  The original is about 6 by 9 feet – so it is stunning in the flesh, so to speak.  A great excuse to visit Chicago to see it at the Art Institute of Chicago – acquired by them in 1923.  There are almost 50 people in this painting.  Everyone has a hat and/or parasol. There is even a monkey!  It is almost like a game of musical statues.



Paul Signac was the other painter that did dotty paintings.  Do you like them too?

1 comment:

  1. The paintings are so interesting. It reminds me of the Aboriginal Dot Paintings from Australia.

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