Georges Seurat: Art and Color Theory
By: Erin S
Tags: Art, Color Theory, Art History

Georges Seurat is a famous painter from the 19th century known for his work in founding the style of pointillism and researching color theory. Seurat was born on December 2, 1859, to Antoine Seurat and Ernestine Faivre, two French natives. His father resided in Le Raincy, an eastern suburb of Paris, while his mother lived in the city. Seurat primarily lived with his mother and two siblings. They lived in Paris until the Paris Commune of 1871 (a rebellion of the Parisian people against the French state where the Parisians set up their government), after which they were driven out by the uproar and moved to a nearby town: Fontainebleau. From there, Seurat spent his early years in school practicing his drawing skills and later painting in his father’s cottage garden.

Entrance and Study in the Art World

Seurat took his first step into art education when he took a course led by sculptor Justin Lequiene. Following this course, he attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts school in Paris from 1878–79. He spent much of his time there browsing the library, where he found his major source of inspiration: the Essai sur les signes inconditionnels de l’art (“Essay on the Unmistakable Signs of Art”), by Humbert de Superville. Superville’s book — focused on visual aesthetics and the relationship between lines and images — was similar to the work of another one of Seurat’s inspirations: David Sutter, an artist who emphasized aesthetics and combining mathematics and music into his artwork. Spurred by these two influences, Seurat grew to have a strong interest in the intellectual bases on art, and began to implement many scientific approaches in his work.

Seurat departed in 1789, at the age of 20, for military service. He was positioned in the French city of Brest where he spent his time drawing the vast sea, boats, and beaches. The next autumn he returned to Paris and shared a studio apartment with artist Édmond-François Aman-Jean, who later joined him at Beaux-Arts. Soon, however, the two painters found themselves drawn away from the school, deciding instead to spend their time at the Louvre. While they spent nights experiencing the city, they spent their days admiring the landscape works of Jean-Baptiste Millet and other influential artists of the period.

In the meantime, Seurat worked to master the art of black and white drawing, and in 1883 he began his first major painting — Bathers at Asnières ( Une baignade à Asnières). He submitted a painting to the Paris Salon, but was rejected by the Salon judges. Seurat then turned to other independent artists in Paris, such as Maximilien Luce and Aman-Jean, and they formed the Societe des Aristes Independants in 1884. This new annual salon was a game-changer for Seurat: as not only was it a powerful social statement, but it’s where he met artist Paul Signac. The two were best known for trading ideas about pointillism, a shared idiom between the two artists.

Pointillism

Pointillism is where an art piece is formed by tiny dots of contrasting colors; of which are specifically placed to shape unique lights and forms in the artwork. One of Seurat’s greatest works in pointillism is his A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, which was showcased at an Impressionist show group from May 15-June 15 of 1886. This painting is said to be the pinnacle of the art form, and was once regarded by Van Gogh as a “fresh revelation of color.” It was from this showcase that art critic Félix Fénéon first decided to call this new style of artwork Neo-Impressionism: a name that depicts an expansion on Impressionism where the artist focuses on a systematic approach to form and color. Seurat took the popular development of this art form in stride and later would found the 19th-century French school of Neo-Impressionism.

Aside from his Neo-Impressionistic art, Seurat inspired many others to take on the form. Camille Pissaro, a famous French landscape painter, briefly converted to pointillism after meeting Seurat during the time he was painting A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. Similarly, the unique quality of Seurat’s work inspired accomplished Belgian poet Émile Verhaeren. Over time, his influence continued, as is well described in an article by the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

“Georges Seurat’s powerful presence as the leader of Neo-Impressionism resonated among artists for decades. Charles Angrand’s self-portrait (1975.1.566) bears a striking resemblance to Seurat’s shadowy sheets drawn in black crayon (55.21.1; 61.101.16). Henri-Edmond Cross and Hippolyte Petitjean adapted the Divisionist technique to watercolor painting. In Saint-Clair, a village on the Côte d’Azur near Saint-Tropez, Cross painted radiant landscapes in watercolor, using a vivid palette of saturated color in mosaic-like brush marks (48.10.7). Petitjean’s watercolors mastered the art of Pointillism to decorative perfection (1975.1.681). In the early twentieth century, Fauve artists turned to Seurat’s technique for purity of color. Even abstract painters Mondrian and Kandinsky practiced Pointillism.”

In 1887, while he was temporarily living in a garret studio, Seurat began work on Les Poseuses. This painting was to be the last of his compositions on the grand scale of the Baignade and La Grande Jatte. In the following year, he completed Les Poseuses and La Parade, one of his smaller works. Following the completion of his works, he attended several salons where he showcased his work, further spreading his influence throughout the art world.

Color Theory

Some of the lesser-known work by Seurat lies in his exploration of color theory.

Seurat met Michel-Eugène Chevreul, a renown chemist, in 1886. Together they experimented on Newton’s color wheel, testing Chevreul’s theories about the chromatic circle of light. Seurat, in his artwork, actually emphasized the use of this science, one stating “some say they see poetry in my paintings; I only see science.” Utilizing his knowledge from the color wheel experiments, Seurat discovered that having contrasting colors next to each other, in small amounts, made the colors seem more vibrant. He found that this would allow for a better characterization of light in paintings. Light, he found, to be the shaper of art and the world, once saying “Let’s go and get drunk on light again — it has the power to console.”

His use of color theory to create his paintings was the first of it’s kind. Not only did it cause him to create Pointillism, but it created consideration in the art world for how the eye perceives color depending on its surroundings. Aside from paintings in the past that might have intended to be optical illusions, this was the first time art was manipulated to look a certain way with actual efficiency and logical thought.

Georges art career would continue as he created 7 large-scale paintings, 40 smaller paintings and sketches, about 500 drawings, and several other sketchbooks full of artwork. His life and legacy have dubbed him as one of the greatest French painters to have ever lived, and his work can be found in museums worldwide.