Seurat - Dialectic Representations

In “Seurat”, Meyer Schapiro seeks to unpack the methodology and intent behind Seurat’s use of dots to render a scene. Seurat was undoubtedly interested in the sensation of an image and the dots were his device or technique in reproducing various aspects of a scene in a way that dealt with his perceptions about proportion, color, and space. Schapiro points to the order or systematic process by which Seurat’s dots modulate and aggregate to produce varying effects. While these dots may appear to be a form of mechanization of painting, it is important to note that this personal honest technique is in fact much along the lines of impressionism, and upon closer inspection, the dots are not uniform – rather they vary in direction, size, and form to produce the desired effect. Seurat, albeit short lived, imparted a new form of approaching art upon many of the emerging artists in Paris. Within certain pieces such as the Three Models (Les Poseuses), there existed a statement of harmony and relaxation in the community that was being portrayed as “a society that enjoys the world in a pure contemplation and calm” (173). Later, Suerat’s appreciation for the built environment and structural infrastructure is interesting and responds to his personal use of systems and a modernist ideal.

Eisenman in his article Mass Culture and Utopia: Suerat and Neoimpressionism expands upon the uprising of neoimpressionism and the contradictions that emerge within the movement in terms of the perusal of science and also abstraction that lead to modernism. Seurat himself as champion of neoimpressionism through his painting distances himself from contour and lines in an attempt to create a new paradigm of painting. There is also an interesting interpretation of many his paintings where the composition seems to impart some kind of political and societal satire, yet the techniques employed by the artist are intended to bring some level of joy or harmony to the viewer. Seurat’s art touches upon so many aspects of society, and is a complex piece on many levels. It explores the shift to modernism, and at the same time can be tinged with critique of the new life style.