Pointillism

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Georges Seurat - A Sunday on La Grande Jatte -- 1884

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. —Georges Seurat, pointillist

In front of you is a picture of art that seems to glow, even with its darker colors. It might be of still life, probably is. It might make you want to relax. It has sort of a grainy look to it, but despite that it still looks like a piece of art with real skill. You walk up to it to see, its all just dots! How did someone make such a piece of art? There clearly is something going on beneath the patterns...

Welcome to Pointillism!

Pointillism is a rejection of Impressionism. Impressionism focuses on rapid, spontaneous and loose brushstrokes while distinct dots, scientific theory, and patterns. The practice of Pointillism is in sharp contrast to the traditional methods of blending pigments on a palette. Pointillism is analogous to the four-color CMYK printing process used by some color printers and large presses that place dots of Cyan (blue), Magenta (red), Yellow, and Key (black). Televisions and computer monitors use a similar technique to represent image colors using Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) colors. Pointillist colors often seem brighter than typical mixed subtractive colors. This may be partly because subtractive mixing of the pigments is avoided, and partly because some of the white canvas may be showing between the applied dots.

It is a technique with few serious practitioners today. Still it is very noticable and some works of it can be recognized by most, so the question is if it Needs More Love.

Gallery

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  Detail from Seurat's La Parade de Cirque (1889), showing the contrasting dots of paint used in Pointillism

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  Henri-Edmond Cross, L'air du soir, c.1893, Musée d'Orsay

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  Vincent van Gogh, Self Portrait, 1887, using pointillist technique.

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  Maximilien Luce, Morning, Interior, 1890, using pointillist technique.

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  Georges Lemmen, c.1891-92, The Beach at Heist, Musée d'Orsay Paris

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  Camille Pissarro, 1888, La Récolte des pommes, oil on canvas, 61 x 74 cm, Dallas Museum of Art

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  Paul Signac, 1901, L'Hirondelle Steamer on the Seine, oil on canvas, National Gallery in Prague

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  Henri Edmond Cross, 1903-04, Regatta in Venice, oil on canvas, 73.7 x 92.7 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

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  Robert Delaunay, 1906, Portrait de Metzinger, oil on canvas, 55 x 43 cm

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  René Schützenberger, 1911, La Coiffure, oil on canvas, 121 × 91 cm

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  Hippolyte Petitjean, 1919, Femmes au bain, oil on canvas, 61.1 × 46 cm, private collection

Examples of Pointillism include:

Notable paintings

• A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat
• Bathing at Asnieres by Georges Seurat
• The Windmills at Overschie by Paul Signac
• Banks of Seine by Georges Seurat
• A Coastal Scene by Théo van Rysselberghe
• Family in the Orchard by Théo van Rysselberghe
• Countryside at Noon by Théo van Rysselberghe
• Afternoon at Pardigon by Henri-Edmond Cross
• Rio San Trovaso, Venice by Henri-Edmond Cross
• The Seine in front of the Trocadero by Henri-Edmond Cross
• The Pine Tree at St. Tropez by Paul Signac
• Against the Enamel of Background Rhythmic with Beats and Angels by Paul Signac
• The Yellow Sail, Venice by Paul Signac
• Notre Dame Cathedral by Maximilien Luce
• Le Pont De Pierre, Rouen by Charles Angrand
• The Beach at Heist by Georges Lemmen
• Aline Marechal by Georges Lemmen
• Vase of Flowers by Georges Lemmen

Music

Pointillism also refers to a style of 20th-century music composition. Different musical notes are made in seclusion, rather than in a linear sequence, giving a sound texture similar to Pointillism. This type of music is also known as punctualism or klangfarbenmelodie.