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What's Pointillism Art? - Characteristics

In fine art, the expression"pointillism" (from the French word"stage" significance"scatter") describes a method of Neo-Impressionism painting, in which hundreds of little dots or dashes of pure colour are applied to the canvas, or other soil, to be able to create maximum luminosity. That is, instead of applying the mixture on the painting and mixing color pigments, the Pointillist relies to mix the colours optically and applies small dots of pure colour that is unmixed onto the picture. Viewed at the ideal distance, (supposedly three times the diagonal measurement) the dots of color give a richer and more subtle effect than could be accomplished by conventional techniques. Pointillism (actually an offshoot of Divisionism) was the most influential style of Post-Impressionist painting (1880-95) and was practised by Post-Impressionist painters from a number of different schools. Italian Divisionism, headed by Vittore Grubicy De Dragon (1851-1920), was especially active.

How Does Pointillism Relate to Neo-Impressionism and Divisionism?

Strictly speaking Pointillism refers only to the type of mark made on the canvas (the dot). On might just as easily call it"dottism". The true theory of blending paint-pigments optically, instead of on a palette, is known as Divisionism (or Chromoluminarism). Pointillism was the signature style of the French painting style called Neo-Impressionism, to confuse things further. To put it another way, in order to make the luminous colours, Neo-Impressionist painters consumed Divisionism's color theories and used Pointillist brushwork.

Note the dots of pure color aren't actually combined by the eye, which sees them as separate colours. However, they do appear to oscillate or vibrate, creating a sort of shimmer.

The founder of Pointillism was Georges Seurat (1859-91), a model student at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts at Paris. A traditional, and traditional painter, he rejected a kind of painting and colour, Impressionism depending on the subjective responses of the individual artist, in favour of a more scientific method he called Chromoluminarism and developed around 1884. Depending on the scientific color theory of the French chemist Michel Eugene Chevreul (Law of Simultaneous Colour Contrast, 1839), and the American physicist Ogden Rood (Modern Chromatics, 1879), the method was used to some degree from the Impressionist painters, but only on an ad hoc basis, and it was not developed systematically until Seurat. (Compare Monet's strategy, see: Attributes of Impressionist Painting 1870-1910.)

Seurat's key disciple was the prior Impressionist Paul Signac (1863-1935). Signac, A landscape artist was attracted by the method behind Pointillism and Divisionism and he became the leading exponent of the Neo-Impressionist movement. Besides watercolours and oil paintings, he also produced a number of pen-and-ink sketches and lithographs, etchings composed of tiny. A strong supporter of artists Signac, within the motion was reportedly the first person to get a painting.

Who Are The Best Pointillist Painters?

Signac and seurat remain Pointillism's greatest exponents. As well as them, the Impressionist Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) was pointilism art also an active member of the faculty, as was Henri-Edmond Cross (1856-1910), and Maximilien Luce (1858-1941) who portrayed industrial society and working-class scenes. Other artists associated with the idiom include: the Fauvist leader Henri Matisse (1869-1954); Albert Dubois-Pillet (1846-90), a self-taught artist who accommodated Pointillism to landscape scenery and naturalist subjects; Charles Agrand (1854-1926), that had been more of a lyrical painter; Giuseppe Pelizza da Volpedo (1868-1907), the leading Italian Pointillist; and Theo van Rysselberghe (1862-1926) the creator of Les Vingt, a group of innovative Post-Impressionists. Even Van Gogh (1853-90) painted sometimes in a Pointillist style.

Legacy

Neo-Impressionism had a remarkable influence on the next generation. In particular, its focus on colour stimulated the development of the Fauvism college - and therefore expressionism - thus playing an important role in the evolution of contemporary art. NOTE: To determine how Monet's, Seurat's and Signac's so-called'naturalism' led paradoxically to abstraction, see: Realism to Impressionism (1830-1900).

Famous Pointillist Paintings

Georges Seurat

Fishing in The Seine (1883) Museum of Modern Art, Troyes

View of Fort Samson (1885) Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884-6, Chicago)

The Versions (1888) Barnes Foundation, Merion, PA

Paul Signac

The Jetty at Cassis (1889) Metropolitan Museum of Art New York City

The Port of Saint-Tropez (1901) The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo

Grand Canal, Venice (1905) Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio

Theo van Rysselberghe

Madame Maus (1890) Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

For additional Dutch luminists, visit: Post-Impressionism in Holland (1880-1920).

Henri-Edmond Cross

Nocturne (1896) Petit Palais, Geneva

Maximilien Luce

The Foundry (1899) Kroller-Muller Museum, The Netherlands

Camille Pissarro

Self-Portrait (1903) Tate, London

Henri Matisse

Luxe, Calme Et Volupte (1904-5) Musee d'Orsay

Works hang in lots of the best art museums in Europe and America. See: Art Museums in Europe, for details of European sets containing Pointillist works.