Georges Seurat (1859–1891) was only 31 when he died, but his short life blazed with inspiration, vision, and creativity and altered the course of European painting. A keen student of the interplay between light and color, Seurat studied Delacroix, in particular, as a student at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His studies led him to develop the concept of Neoimpressionism, which in turn, resulted in the radical approach of Divisionism. This technique, which informs his two best-known pieces Bathers at Asnières and A Sunday on La Grande Jatte – 1884, used pointillism to laboriously develop images that shimmered with luminescence and movement. In this accessible and enjoyable introduction to Seurat’s life and work, we meet an artist driven by a profound need to articulate nature, harmony, and the simple pleasures of life in dense, kinetic tones and lines.
