GEORGES SEURAT - 6

 

The Forest at Pontaubert - 1881

Seurat spent two months in 1881 in Pontaubert (Pont-au-bare), a village southeast of Paris.  This village was known as a place for landscape artists to visit.  He painted this concert of greens, which shows his keen interest in the play of light and shadows.  It is a fine example of pointillism, as he captures, with thousands of dots, its essence and stillness with varying shades of green, yellow, brown and white.  He uses darker colors to show the texture of the bark on the trees and to show shadows. 

The two younger trees in the forefront appear to me to be birch.  Would you agree?  The way he painted the trees closer toward the front of the painting adds depth to the background of the forest.  Notice, too,  how Seurat subtly tells us the season is autumn when he paints a tiny splotch of colorful leaves in the top left corner.

The first thing one notices is how the painting is anchored by the vertical tree trunks, which draw the eye upward and convey a sense of the stately grandeur of the forest glade.  One feels like they're walking beside Seurat as he walks in the woods.  One can't help but feel a deep appreciation for this peek at the serenity and natural beauty of the French countryside.  

The painting shows only trees, leaves and grass, but it holds a suggestion of something more if only the artist and the viewer are brave enough to go deeper into the forest. It's like an invitation.  It appears at first to be a simplistic scene, but provides a route into a darker, more secretive world.  This work is a celebration of nature and manages to introduce a hint of excitement and mystery, thus creating an emotional reaction.

The painting is on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.