Seurat, Georges

(1859-1891)

   painter

   Georges Seurat, who along with paul signac developed the theories and techniques of neoimpres-sionism, was born in Paris, where he studied painting and drawing with a student of jean-auguste-dominique ingres. Greatly interested in research on color and theories of vision, he did his earliest works at Brest, where he painted a number of landscapes and figure studies. Returning to Paris in 1880, he dedicated himself exclusively to drawing (1882-83) and proved to be an exceptional master in the technique of replacing line for mass. Accepted by the Paris Salon the official exhibition in 1883 with his Portrait of Aman-Jean, he painted, after a number of preparatory studies, Bathing at Asnières, which was rejected by the Salon in 1884. He then founded with other painters who had been rejected la Société des artistes indépendants and there showed his works. Joining with Signac, Seu-rat also parted with the style of several painters, rejecting the techniques of claude monet. Seurat seems to have convinced camille pissarro of his new techniques and, thanks to him, was able to show at the last impressionist exhibition (Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grand-Jatte, 1884-86), which appeared as the manifesto of the new school of neoimpressionism, or pointillism, so named for his technique of applying small, closely packed dots of unmixed color to create a solid form on a white background. Always a scientist, Seurat enunciated the principles on which his art was founded, studying also the effects of artificial light (Le Chahut, 1889-90; Le Cirque, 1890-91). He had a notable influence on paul gauguin, vincent van gogh, and Pissarro, as well as on the fauvists, cubists, and futurists.