Seurat and the making of "La Grande Jatte": viewers can "reassess the artist's unique status as a draughtsman, colorist, theorist, and 'painter of modern life,' as well as his talent in relation to his forebears and contemporaries.".

• Author: Druick, Douglas W.
• Position: Museums Today

TODAY, WE CHERISH Georges Seurat's "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte--1884" for myriad reasons: the enveloping magnitude of the visual experience it creates; the Variety of figures with whom we can identify; the innovation and courage of its departure from the practices and priorities of Seurat's contemporaries--all of which have ensured its prominence in the popular imagination over a century later. More than any other painting, it delights on many levels--from the general public of all ages, to the scholarly and scientific communities. Despite its familiarity, however, it remains enigmatic. The exhibition "Seurat and the Making of 'La Grande Jatte'"--with more than 130 paintings and works on paper--allows viewers to reassess the artist's unique status as a draughtsman, colorist, theorist, and "painter of modern life," as well as his talent in relation to his forebears and contemporaries.

A complete understanding of how Seurat (1859-91) arrived at the art that would be dubbed "Neo-Impressionism" has been hampered by the almost exclusive emphasis scholars have put on his interest in modern scientific color theories. For many years, it was assumed that the artist restricted himself to the three primary colors--for instance, pairing dots of blue and yellow that mix in the eye (at a remove) to form green, This is untrue. Seurat knew that light reflected by pigments does not behave exactly like solar or prismatic illumination, lie strove to understand the principles governing color and light, carefully studying books by scientists, then adapting their theories to his own particular goals and materials.

Another myth concerning Seurat's technique claims that his surfaces are regular, screenlike patterns of tiny dots or points, when in fact he used a variety of strokes from short dashes to larger daubs. Finally, the native Parisian often is described as a cold and calculating artist working in a mechanical and scientifically-derived manner with none of the spontaneity of the Impressionists.

This exhibition offers a more nuanced view of Seurat's relationship to modern color theory--one that takes into consideration his use of trial and error and the constant shifting of his approach in dealing with specific pictorial issues. While he certainly drew upon scientific theory, he did not allow his work to be dictated by it.

Seurat's career as a painter spanned less than a decade, during which he spent two years conceiving and completing "La Grande Jatte." To...