A NEW ADVENTURE IN THE WORLD OF ART - GEORGES SEURAT

Think it's time for me to delve into the life of George Seurat, who was born in 1859 in Paris, France and died in 1891 in Paris.  Seurat is known as the Founding Father of Pointillism--in painting, that is the practice of applying small dots of color to a canvas so that from a distance they visually blend together as a picture.  

His best-known and largest painting depicted people from different social classes strolling and relaxing in a park west of Paris. 

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
~1884-1886~

The painting's dimensions are 6.6 feet by 9.8 feet.  At the painting's edge, Seurat surrounded it with a frame of painted dots, which he enclosed with a pure white, wooden frame.  That's how the painting is exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago.

If we take a close look, we see that most of the figures in the painting are cast in shadow, either under the trees or an umbrella, or another person.  For the people of Paris, Sunday was the day to escape the heat of the city and go to the shade and cool breezes that came off the Seine River.  

On the right, a fashionable couple are on a stroll.  The man is wearing a top hat.  Look closely and you'll see that the lady has a pet monkey on a leash.  On the left, a well-dressed woman extends her fishing pole over the water.  Note the man with the black hat and thin cane looking at the river.  Do you see a man playing a trumpet and two soldiers standing at attention as the musician plays?  And the man in the forefront lying on the ground smoking a pipe?  In the painting's center stands a little girl dressed in white, who's looking directly at the viewer of the painting.

It is written that Seurat included symbolism in this painting to highlight the Paris that he saw.  It is possible that the monkey on the lower right represents prostitution, as the French word for monkey, singesse, means prostitute.  Besides that, the woman fishing at the water bank may subtly suggest the other kind of fishing, and that she is, in fact, a hooker.  It's important to understand that this Paris Park was a favorite place of prostitutes, and that's why the speculation about the monkey and the lady fishing. 

The painting is valued at $650 million.  It's unfathomable what Georges Seurat was able to create with tiny brush strokes and dots, or points, of color.  He was just 26 years old when he completed this work.  Sadly, Georges Seurat died from an undetermined illness at the age of 31.  This painting was unseen for 30 years after his death.  In 1924, a lover of art, Frederic Clay Bartlett, purchased A Sunday on La Grande Jatte and loaned it to the Art Institute of Chicago. 

On April 15, 1958, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte was on loan at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, when a fire broke out in the adjoining Whitney Museum.  The fire damaged six canvases, injured 31 people and killed one workman, but Seurat's beloved painting was quickly taken away to safety through an elevator evacuation plan. 

There's a lot more to follow about this famous artist, and I'm in the mood to learn and share what I learn with my devoted followers.  The highest purpose of art is to inspire.