A Sunday Afternoon

My boss recently told me that his favorite work of art is A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat.  This epitomic pointillist painting is a highlight of The Art Institute of Chicago’s collection.  As an undergraduate student, my professor explained that Seurat appropriated contemporary scientific knowledge about color and perception.  The artist learned that the observation and sensitivity of color depends on the surrounding environment.  As a painter, this idea provoked Seurat to explore the possibility to create the effect of certain colors, without actually using that particular color.  For example, if you stare at the red circle then quickly hold a white piece of paper over your computer screen, you will see red’s complimentary color in the form of a green circle.  A Sunday Afternoon exemplifies Seurat’s experimentation with color perception in his application of adjacent complimentary colors, ultimately creating his characteristically bright figures.

The Art Institute of Chicago-

http://www.artic.edu/