GEORGES SEURAT - 10

The Channel of Gravelines, Petit Fort Philippe - 1890

This painting depicts a coastal harbor scene in pointillist style--a mix of primary and complementary colors applied in small, irregular dabs of paint.  Seurat used their shape and density to achieve his vision.  The short, sturdy vertical post has the greatest density of dots, while the right side of the sky is so loosely covered that the white ground layer is visible.  Notice how the post anchors the picture securely.....it looks almost reachable by the viewer.  The sea, sky and ground occupy roughly equal proportions.  Be sure to take note of the vertical line of the lighthouse and the way he uses shading around it...and its vertical shadow in the water.  Based upon the bright light and stark shadows, Seurat painted this in mid-afternoon.

Seurat positioned the boats along the sand dunes and in the canal so their horizontal and vertical elements resulted in maximum visual stability.  The elegantly curved wharf reflects serenity, as it stretches into infinity.  At the same time, the sweeping diagonal cutting the composition in two provides contrasting movement.   

In 1890, Seurat traveled to this tiny port of Gravelines, near the Belgian border, and painted what would be his last four landscapes.  Gravelines was considered an uninteresting town.  Maybe that was the draw for Seurat, as he was getting more and more protective of his painting methods.  Also, the canal's straight lines lent well to his strictly-organized compositions.  Seurat preferred painting images of ports and shores, rather than dramatic sunsets and stormy seas.  The complete lack of humans, either vacationers or hardworking fishermen, was typical of Seurat's seascapes.  His paintings had a luminous stillness about them.

This pointillist painting is located in the Indiana Museum of Art in Indianapolis, Indiana.