Georges Seurat
Parade de Cirque, 1887
The Seine and La Grande Jatte - Springtime, 1888
Georges Seurat
Georges Seurat was a famous painter. He was best known for pointillism (the practice of applying small strokes or dots of colour to a surface so that from a distance they visually blend together). He is known as the pioneer of pointillism. His most famous works include A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, Bathers at Asnieres, Parade de Cirque, and The Seine and la Grande Jatte – Springtime.
Seurat was born on December 2, 1859 in Paris, France.
Seurat was a meticulous painter. It took him two years to complete his most famous work, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. This painting is very large – 6 feet, 10 inches tall by 10 feet wide. It is painted entirely with small dots of pure colour. In 1958, this work of art almost burned in a fire at the Museum of Modern Art. Today, it is estimated to be worth in the hundreds of millions.
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1886
Bathers at Asnieres, 1884
Suggested Activities:
Point Point Point – Introduction to Pointillism
Materials:
- Paint for kids (any washable paint will do)
- Paint tray (paper plates work great)
- Cotton swabs
- Small canvas or card stock (cardboard also works great)
- Cup to collect used cotton swabs
Directions:
Try and paint your entire canvas using just dots. There are two rules - no mixing of colours and no brush strokes. Make a fun design, picture or pattern, or just focus on covering the entire canvas. Your choice! Just have fun experimenting with pointillism. Remember to use separate swabs for each colour so you don’t accidentally mix them up (and remember not to worry if you do – only happy accidents in art)!
Stencil Pointillism
Materials:
- Cardstock for stencil
- Holepunch
- Paper
- Tape
- Paint
- Paintbrush
Directions:
Create a stencil using cardstock and a hole-punch of your favourite object, animal or person (parents or older siblings will definitely need to complete or help out little hands on this part of the activity). Try sketching an outline first, then create the holes throughout the entire piece (see below example). Tape your cardstock to your painting paper and paint over the holes. Use whatever colours you please. When you are done, remove the cardstock and you will have a beautiful pointillism piece of art.
For walkthrough example, please visit https://www.hellowonderful.co/post/dinosaur-pointillism-art/.
Fingerpainting Pointillism
Materials:
- Construction paper
- Fingerpaint
Directions:
Create your favourite animal using construction paper. You may choose to complete the entire body or just the head. Be creative with your design – add lots of detail where you can. When you are happy with your animal, choose your favourite colour of paint and use your finger to create lots of dots to fill in the design.
The CN Tower
Seurat painted the Eiffel Tower, one of the most famous buildings in France. Sketch an outline of one of Canada’s most famous buildings – the CN Tower – and use markers to fill it in with dots (your colour choice). Watch the video link for a quick how-to on drawing the tower or print out the colouring sheet if you would rather not draw freehand.
Extension: Sketch anything you would like and fill in using pointillism. See video at the bottom of this page - Learn to draw in the style of pointillism – for an example.
CN Tower Colouring Sheet
Artist Influence – Intermediate Students
Research the following artists who were influenced by Seurat. Find similarities and differences between their work and his. Pick one piece of art by both artists and compare their work to one another.
Yayoi Kusama
Ana Enshina
