Artist Report Outline

Describe your artists:

a. personality- Georges Seurat was described as a quiet, timid, antisocial and reclusive
artist, he was considered kind and enthusiastic but also conservative, due to his tall
stature and time spent in the military he was referred to as a grenadier. He was
innovative and progressive in his artistic style, he set out to find new ways of using colors
and became very interested in the Color Theory. He wanted to modernize art with the
help of science, he was thought of as not only an artist but as a scientist because of his
constant research and study of color, expressive lines, shapes, form, and light, he often
considered himself a technician of art.
He set out be a leader of a new generation of artists, he appreciated the positive
reviews of his drawings and sketches from his peers. He left school to further his artistic
abilities without what he felt were restrictive rules. He spent a lot of time studying the
importance of lighting and color combinations, he strongly believed that through color,
emotions could be evoked.
b. family life- Georges was born in 1859, he was the youngest of four siblings, one of who
passed at an early age, by the time he was 9, he was the only child living at home. It is
said that he had a good relationship with his older sister but that he did not have much to
do with his older brother, perhaps the 13 year age gap played a hand in that. He was
raised middle class and was supported in his endeavors by his parents, though his father
was living out of the home and spent most of his time away from his family. Therefore
Georges did not in fact have much of a relationship with his father and spent a lot of his

time with his mother and her widowed sister, who were inspirations in his earlier
drawings.
He was taught at an early age to draw/sketch by his uncle, although it was not a
formal education, it inflated his love for art. Later on Georges would meet a woman by
the name of Madeleine Knobloch, whom he would start a relationship with in secret and
would later have two children together, though never married. One of the children would
later pass on from what was described as Diptheria, an infection that severely affected
ones breathing, shortly after Georges himself passed from the same infection.
c. time period- From 1878-1879 Georges was enrolled at Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he
left in early 1879 to pursue his own dreams of drawing/painting, outside of the strict
methods of the school. At this time Impressionism was big in the art world, Georges
made regular appearances at the Impressionism Exhibits and admired artists like Claude
Monet and Camille Pissarro. However after one of his works was rejected from an
exhibit, he decided to pursue the creation of a new group of artists. From this group they
were able to create their own exhibit, one they considered to be more progressive than
Impressionism. In the 1880s Seurat decided to pursue his own methods and styles of
painting, apart and aside from anything that was around at the time.

Describe one work of art that you feel was the most significant piece your artist produced
and in your own words explain why.
Description of painting: Bathers at Asnieres was one of the most significant pieces of art for
Georges. This piece was an everyday scene, it was a place often visited by ordinary middle class
workers, who after a long day would come relax by the water. This piece includes children,

adults and animals, all relaxing by the water or playing in the water, it depicts a hot summer day
with his use of colors and light.

Why: After its rejection from an exhibit, it was his first major work put out in the exhibit hed
created with the other artists, known as the Salon des Independants Artists. He spent a lot of time
studying the area, visiting the place on many different occasions and drawing up many sketches
for the final piece. Like him, many artists were coming away from Impressionism. Through the
exhibit of this piece of work, he was able to create a following of individuals who appreciated
and loved his art, he made many friends at this time and through these friendships created the
new art group of Neo-Impressionists.

Describe what emotions you feel this painting portrays and explain how the artist used the
Principles and Elements of Design to convey these feelings.
Describe your emotions: This painting for me portrays happiness, ease and relaxation, it creates a
sense of warmth with the use of color combinations, shading and lighting. It also creates a sense
of overall calm and peacefulness and makes me wish I could go in and relax there under the sun
with the others.

Describe the Principles and Elements used: In this composition Seurat used the principles of
balance and unity, all the individuals in this composition are shown to be relaxed and enjoying
themselves, being one with nature. The visual elements that stand out are his use of lines, the
way he draws humans is visually pleasing, they are rounded, proportioned and the use of lines
shows them in positions of relaxation and also show implications of movement frozen in time.
His ability to use colors that complement and contrast, particularly the green grass and his use of

reds, browns and blacks to create variety and break up the large amounts of blues and greens in
the composition. His use of Value helps to create the necessary shadow and shading for the
overall brightness and light that encompasses this art work, he does an amazing job creating what
appears to be a very bright sunny day perfect for cooling down in the reflective water.

Describe your artists style: In the 1880s Seurat would form his own style of painting, it would
be called Pointillism for the many dots used or Divisionism for the many brush strokes used,
this new technique was thought to be a better use of colors, instead of mixing the colors
beforehand to create secondary or tertiary colors, he would use dots or brushstrokes on the
canvas of two or more different colors to help create a more natural look and color. In 1886 the
word Neo-Impressionism was given to works of arts such as Seurat, Paul Signac and Camille
Pissarro, this art movement took place from 1886 through 1906. This new technique although
inspired by Impression took a different turn when it came to the use of color, brush strokes, the
use of dots to create a bigger picture and the study of optics.

References
Contributors, T. A. (2016). Georges Seurat French Draftsmen and Painter. Retrieved from The
Art Story: http://www.theartstory.org/artist-seurat-georges.htm
Georges Seurat. (n.d.). Retrieved from Artble: http://www.artble.com/artists/georges_seurat
Georges Seurat and Neo-Impressionism. (2004, October). Retrieved from The Met:
http://www.metmuseum.org
Herbert, R. L., Cachin, F., Distel, A., Stein Alyson, S., & Tinterow, G. (1991). Seurat. New York:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Venezia, M. (2002). Georges Seurat. Danbury: Children's Press.