The pictures taken below are from the Georges Seurat exhibition, which I was lucky to have been in town for! I enjoyed researching Georges and learning that he pioneered the Neo-Impressionism movement, which sought to use science to delve deeper into the optics of a piece. Rejecting the notion that colors spontaneously mixed and applied create realistic pieces (Impressionism), Georges found that meticulously separating the right colors – painting them near each other on the canvas instead of mixing them prior on a palette – creates a crisper and more accurate painting. His endeavors included studying how light reflects color, which led Georges to propose that dotting primary colors directly onto the canvas creates depth and distance that is more life-like on the canvas, a technique called Pointillism. This gave his paintings a grainy look from up close and also created optics that reflected and blended color effortlessly.

Georges’ pursuit to use science as a way to drill down into what makes a painting realistic – coming up with a logical method of sorts – was avant-garde. It forced painters to experiment, research, question methods and ultimately push the boundaries of their craft.

There was much to see in this exhibit, but what I have showcased below are my favorites. Enjoy!