Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Seurat, dot. Simple enough.


A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat
1884, Oil on Canvas, 207.5 x 308 cm
The Art Institute of Chicago

I have been trying to write this post for two days now, but during the last week of school, your teachers like to lock you in a prison with no fun. With that said, as of today school is officially over (until the next semester)! So I can re-begin my love affair with Inadvertently Art. Now on to Seurat.

Seurat, dot. That pretty much sums it up. If there are any Herold fans that read this, YOU know what I am talkin' about. Anyways, Georges Seurat is considered to be a post-impressionist, mainly because he came after the Impressionists. Clever? Not really. Seurat was obsessed with color, so much so that he began experimenting with millions of dots close together, in a style art people call pointillism. Basically, he just painted a bunch of dots of different colors close to one another and created these really cool images. Up close, you can't tell what the crap anything is, but from far away you can see the whole picture, which is pretty huge by the way. It's pretty dang cool if you ask me.

As far as what the painting "means," eh well there are many ideas. Personally, I hate that every painting needs to have a structured meaning, and I tend to like those that no one can figure out or agree upon (eg. Bosch) but if we must..... A Sunday on La Grande Jatte can mean a lot, but here's my opinion. It's important to notice that the park is really crowded, but on one seems to be talking and everyone is in their own little neatly confined space. So despite the fact that the park is crowded and at first might give one the impression that it is busy, after second glace you notice that it is just the opposite. It really seems like a slice of time, which I love. But on top of that, it really evokes peace, which I love even more. Instead of thinking, "What a busy and crowded park!" one begins to think, "What a peaceful place." To sum it up, I just like how the piece makes me feel, relaxed and at peace. And I really wouldn't want to imply anything further than that.

Oh by the way, as of some time last week, the Art Institute of Chicago (where the piece is held) launched their project to raise money for the Museum and Institute. They do it every year, but this year is actually pretty cool. You can "Adopt a Dot" from A Sunday on La Grande Jatte and recieve a color button of the dot you adopted. It's $10 for one dot, $25 for three, and $50 for all six color dots. I think it's a clever idea. If you're interested you can find more information here.

Seurat, dot. Simple enough.

2 comments:

  1. adopt a dot? that is a legitimate idea. i mean i would, but nah. haha! glad to see you're blogging natalie... i like your posts =D

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  2. What is striking to me about the painting is the differences in the sunlit people and the ones in the shade of which he did many of both. The primary subjects are the couple in the right forefront. seen in the larger view,the features on the woman's face are amazing. When taking a photograph of a shaded subject, this is often a challenge. How to have enough light to show features in the shade and yet not wash out the rest of the shot. So, I thought he handled this nicely, even when using dots! From the shade/light perpective looks realistic to me.

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