artist of the day---seurat

I was never a huge fan of seurat. I must admit that this painting is one of those that "sticks with you." He was interested in the idea of putting a bunch of colored dots together to reach a "purer" color effect. The sad thing is that the intended effect was a failure (I think he even admitted in the end.) I like the idea that he was using science a bit in his approach as most artist brains have as much use for science as a slug has for a salt shaker. I guess this artist most be at least nodded to for his place in art history and for this painting as well. I much prefer the carefully laid dots to the swine and swill of abstract impressionism. Anyone who does something totally different is sometimes to be admired as well. He is labeled a neo-impressionist in the world of art-speak.

During the 19th century, scientist-writers such as Michel Eugène Chevreul, Nicholas Ogden Rood and David Sutter wrote treatises on color, optical effects and perception. They were able to translate the scientific research of Helmholtz and Newton into a written form that was understandable by non-scientists. Chevreul was perhaps the most important influence on artists at the time; his great contribution was producing the color wheel of primary and intermediary hues.

here is some wikipedia info as well.--

Chevreul was a French chemist who restored old tapestries. During his restorations of tapestries he noticed that the only way to restore a section properly was to take into account the influence of the colors around the missing wool; he could not produce the right hue unless he recognized the surrounding dyes. Chevreul discovered that two colors juxtaposed, slightly overlapping or very close together, would have the effect of another color when seen from a distance. The discovery of this phenomenon became the basis for the Pointillist technique of the Neoimpressionist painters.