Assessment #2

1. KC Collins Assessment #2

2. About the Art • Title: A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte • Artist: Georges Seurat (1859-1891) • Media: Oil on Canvas • It was Seurat’s most famous piece

3. Description • The title of the piece makes the works sound like a picture of a peaceful Sunday afternoon on an island, which is precisely what the works shows the viewer. • There are many fancily dressed (or at least fancy in my opinion) men and women, families and children, pets, and various people doing activities on the river on the left side of the painting.

4. Description cont. • The painting is filled with organic shapes; people, trees, animals, little to no hard-cut lines; all the lines are very soft and curving, and the texture is the same throughout the entire piece because of the technique Seurat used (see below). The colors also go from dark on the right side to light on the left side of the work. • The artist used oil paints on a canvas and used a very interesting technique that involved using a very small brush and only putting small dots of color on at a time, slowly forming shapes. This technique gives little texture, but wide color variety.

5. Analysis • There isn’t an obvious focal point , but my eyes are drawn to the dark woman on the right side and the woman in red and pink with her child in the middle because they are brighter and darker than the other people. • In the painting, there is a lot of balance among the colors and shapes because the colors are very varied and the shapes are very organic, but range is size and form. All this together creates a very peaceful mood.

6. Analysis cont. • The proportions look normal because if they weren’t, the people would look odd, which none of them do. • There isn’t a real pattern except for the dots that Seurat’s technique created, each person is individual and different from the one next to it or across the painting. • My eye follows a path around the foremost standing people, starting on the right and ending right in the same spot. • The same colors are repeated throughout the piece, which adds unity and variety

7. Interpretation • I don’t think there’s symbolism in this piece, it simply shows people enjoying their Sunday afternoon along a bank. • I believe the artist wanted the viewer to get a peaceful feeling from the work, because nothing terribly exciting is happening and the colors are very soft and calming. • The vivid colors of the people’s clothes and the pastel green of the trees reminds me of the rare times when my family went to the park to play.

8. Interpretation cont. • The way that the people are at peace and just enjoying themselves is the exact opposite of world problems today. Everybody’s stressing out and rushing around everywhere and the nice things in life just blow by them. They just need to stop, smell the roses, and enjoy life every once in a while.

9. Judgement • The colors and composition bring the piece together and create a sense of unity which really makes the entire artwork a success. • Anyone that wants to critique this artwork should pay special attention to the technique Seurat used to create this piece, but also should look at the colors, shapes, and space to get a good understanding of the work

10. Judgement cont. • I think this artwork is a very unique piece because of the interesting technique the artist used which only allowed for one texture in the piece, yet is still was made to look unified and whole. • To improve this piece, I think the artist could have added more vibrant colors because most of the colors look sort of faded and pastel-like.