There are some works of art which are instantly recognizable, even if the person does not know the name of the painting nor who the original artist is. Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte is one of those paintings, for even though most people may not be able to name the piece, they recognize the portrait itself. That fact holds true because this particular painting is one which has taken on an iconic status in the world of art itself, something which helps to make Georges Seurat even more of an outstanding artist than he can already be considered.
Seurat tragically died at the young age of 31, making his impact on the art world even more impressive. He was born in 1859 to a wealthy family in Paris. This gave Seurat the opportunity to study art from a young age and despite the fact that he gave a year of his life to military service, Seurat quickly began to work on the mastery of art. His first major painting was completed in 1883, although it was rejected from the Paris Salon. As a result, this drove Seurat to focus more on independent artists throughout Paris, making friendships that eventually resulted in the Societe des Artistes Independants. Out of all of this came his heavy interest in pointillism.
Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte is the perfect representation of what pointillism has been able to provide to the art world itself. It was born out of Georges Seurat’s scientific theory that painting using a series of tiny dots would be able to produce more vibrant colors than what painting using brush strokes would be able to provide. It took him 2 years to produce Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, but the painting itself is one which will live on in infamy throughout the entire world of art.
The painting itself is not of an exciting landscape, for Seurat turned to one of the more boring activities of a typical Paris lifestyle. He was able to prove that you could capture exquisite beauty even within this typically dull scene, however, by using attention to detail that can be found through pointillism. He spent time perfecting the landscape of the portrait before focusing on the people within the landscape itself. He also did not focus on the personalities of the people within the painting, instead paying more attention to the shapes they composed within the painting.
All of the work that Seurat put into his theory paid off, however. Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte has become one of the most famous paintings in the world. This painting lives on, still quite popular, and this allows Seurat to become one of the most influential painters to ever live, especially considering his short lifespan.