Georges Seurat, Part 2 – Drawings

Posted by artiste on

d-seurat 2

Madame Seurat (Artist’s Mother) 1882-83

Though Georges Seurat is most often remembered as the inventor of Pointillism, the intricate color system that produced Bather’s at Asnières and A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, his exquisite and little known drawings are considered among his greatest achievements.  They are distinctive because of his unique method of capturing a serene luminosity of tones by using black contè crayon on Michallet, a handmade french paper.  It can also be assumed that in his mastery of tonal values and the stippled appearance of the drawings a matrix was laid for the subsequent pointillist technique that was perfected in La Grande Jatte.

Mendiant-Hindou-by-Georges-Seurat-1878-79

Mendiant Hindou (Indian Beggar), ca 1878
Sold $3,978,591 – Sotheby’s London, February 6, 2014 (Lot 00165)

The drawing above was recently purchased by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles at Sotheby’s London for $3,978,591.  It far exceeded the pre-sale estimate of $130,512 – $195,768.  The Getty has no paintings by Seurat but now has four significant drawings made by Seurat. The Indian Beggar is one of his first life drawings and marks a formidable departure from his early classical style as evidenced by the abandonment of the traditional Beaux-Arts contour lines.  It was executed during his later years of formal education with Justin Lequien when he had moved from drawing endless plaster casts to live models.  The sensitive draughtsmanship in the handling of shadows on the aging folds of skin imbue it with a powerful and original vitality. 

Georges Seurat Aman-Jean, 1882–83 Conté crayon on paper 24 1/2 x 18 3/4" (62.2 x 47.6 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Stephen C. Clark, 1960 (61.101.16)

Portrait of Edmond Aman-Jean, 1882-83
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Seurat_Aman-Jean_detail

Detail of Watermark on Michallet Paper

Seurat’s drawings possess a mystical aura combining intimacy and proximity.  He called his technique “irradiation” since it avoided distinct lines and dealt with the subtlety and nuance of light and shadow.  Rather than drawing lines he blackened entire areas of the paper establishing infinite gradations of tone due to the application of the crayon on the textured weave of the Michallet, (see detail above).  This produced a range of shades between the whiteness of the untouched paper and the absolute black of the contè crayon.  In Edmond Aman-Jean we see how nothing is white except the collar and nothing is black except his hair and the jacket – everything else is shaded.  The crayon touches the paper lightly in some places so that the gridded weave of the Michallet creates a luminous stippling effect, which gives it a remarkable atmospheric quality.

seurat_02seurat 4

Studies for Bathers at Asnieres, 1884

While the two drawings above served as studies for his large monumental paintings, the majority were done in their own right, constituting a separate body of work.  In some of these we can see where Seurat nearly pushed through to complete abstraction.  For example, in Child in White (1883-84) and Labourage (1882-83) the forms dissolve and are barely recognizable. At times he seems to explore and play with the ambiguity inherent in the convention of representational art.  The contre-jour effect of the silhouetted figures against the setting sun in Labourage float and dissolve in the picture space as does the figure in Child in White.  

 child in whiteLabourage

Child in White (1883-83) and Labourage (1882-82)
Musee d’Orsay, Paris France

Seurat moves towards abstraction in that he simplifies the forms in a manner that is both realistic and representational.  He does this by emphasizing the inherent geometric form and underlying structure of the objects and figures.  Another key to this “representational abstraction”  is the way he controls and defines light on the subjects.  It appears that most of his subjects were lit by a strong light emanating from one source, as seen in Madame Seurat.  

As an example of part of his market, are two more recent auction sales of his drawings, Liseur and L’Arroseur .

liseur

Liseur (1881)
Sold $1,230,986 –  Sotheby’s London (Lot 00009) June 14, 2015

 

arroseur

L’Arrosuer (1883)
Sold $2,965,000 –  Sotheby’s New York (Lot 00030)

The Museum of Modern Art in New York featured an exhibition of Seurat’s drawings in 2007-08. There is an interesting interactive site where you can further explore his drawings and see his sketchbooks and the conservation work that was done on the drawings.  

Museum of Modern Art 2007-08 Exhibition Drawings of Georges Seurat

 

 

 

 

 

f

 

 

0 Comments on “Georges Seurat, Part 2 – Drawings”

  6. Amazing postings. With thanks!
    http://canadianpharmaciesnnm.com/
    international pharmacies that ship to the usa canadian online pharmacies pharmacy without dr prescriptions canadian pharmacies without an rx
    canada pharmacies online
    canada pharmacies prescription drugs
    mexican pharmacies shipping to usa
    cialis online
    online pharmacy no prescription
    canada pharmacies

    Reply

  19. Position well taken!!
    http://canadianpharmacymim.com/
    pain meds online without doctor prescription canadian viagra canadian online pharmacy canada pharmaceutical online ordering
    prescription drug assistance
    mail order pharmacies
    online pharmacy reviews
    drugs without prescription
    canadian pharmacy without prescription
    canadian pharmacy

    Reply

  21. You said it very well.!
    https://nicktambone.com/
    top rated canadian pharmacies online canada drugs online pharmacy prices compare aarp approved canadian online pharmacies
    northwest pharmacy
    canadian drugstore reviews
    pharmacy canada
    no 1 canadian pharcharmy online
    best non prescription online pharmacies
    no prescription online pharmacy

    Reply

  23. Many thanks! Quite a lot of tips.
    http://canadianpharmaciesnnm.com/
    online pharmacy usa aarp approved canadian online pharmacies canadian drug stores online canadian cialis
    prescription drugs online without doctor
    my canadian pharmacy
    pharmacy prescription
    online canadian pharcharmy
    prescription cost comparison
    mexican pharmacy online

    Reply

  28. Amazing lots of fantastic facts.
    http://canadianpharmaciescubarx.com/
    cialis canadian pharmacy trust pharmacy canada no prescription pharmacies top rated canadian pharmacies online
    cheap drugs online
    best online canadian pharcharmy
    canada online pharmacies
    no 1 canadian pharcharmy online
    online canadian pharmacies
    <a href="http://jesserubenfeld.net/?s=+Cheers.+Valuable+stuff.+http%3A%2F%2Fcanadianpharmacymim.com%2F+cheap+drugs+online+online+pharmacies+canada+best+online+pharmacy+%5Burl%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Ftalahicc.com%2F%5Dcanada+online+pharmacies%5B%2Furl%5D+%0D%0Acompare+rx+prices+%0D%0Acanadian+prescription+%0D%0Acanadian+pharmacy+meds+%0D%0Adrugs+without+prescription+%0D%0Acanada+online+pharmacies+%0D%0Acanadian+pharcharmy+online&s=+%0D%0ACheers.+Valuable+stuff.+%0D%0Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fcanadianpharmacymim.com%2F+%0D%0Acheap+drugs+online+online+pharmacies+canada+best+online+pharmacy+%5Burl%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Ftalahicc.com%2F%5Dcanada+online+pharmacies%5B%2Furl%5D+%0D%0Acompare+rx+prices+%0D%0Acanadian+prescription+%0D%0Acanadian+pharmacy+meds+%0D%0Adrugs+without+prescription+%0D%0Acanada+online+pharmacies+%0D%0Acanadian+pharcharmy+online”>best online pharmacy stores

    Reply

  29. Regards, I value this!
    http://canadianpharmacysilo.com/
    canadian drugstore online canadian pharmacies prescription drugs canada canada drug
    <a href="https://radiolav.ru/callback/?id=&act=fastBack&SITE_ID=s1&name=Quentinmoima&phone=86249916775&message=+Very+well+voiced+really.+%21+http%3A%2F%2Fcanadianonlinepharmacynnm.com%2F+pharmacy+drug+store+canada+pharmacy+canada+drugs+online+northwest+pharmacy+%0D%0Apharmacy+drug+store+%0D%0Abest+online+pharmacies+no+prescription+%0D%0Abest+canadian+prescription+prices+%0D%0Aonline+pharmacy+no+prescription+needed+%0D%0Apharmacy+price+comparison+%0D%0Anorthwestpharmacy”>online drugstore
    online pharmacy without a prescription
    canadian pharmacy king
    buy drugs online
    canadian drugstore reviews
    canadian pharmacy without prescription

    Reply

  31. With thanks. Lots of posts.
    http://canadianpharmaciescubarx.com/
    canadapharmacyonline.com canadian pharmacies online canada pharmacies prescription drugs canadian pharmaceuticals online
    no prior prescription required pharmacy
    overseas pharmacy forum
    walmart pharmacy price check
    canadian drugs without prescription
    approved canadian pharmacies online
    canadapharmacy com

    Reply

  41. You actually revealed it very well!
    http://www.canadianpharmacymsn.com/
    canadian pharmacy meds mexican pharmacies shipping to usa canadian drugs without prescription top rated canadian pharmacies online
    canadianpharmacy
    canadian pharmacy
    pharmacy prices compare
    canadian discount pharmacy
    best online canadian pharcharmy
    pharmacy online store

    Reply

  43. Amazing quite a lot of helpful material.
    http://www.canadianpharmacymsn.com/
    canadian pharmacies shipping to usa canadian pharmacies online drugs without prescription northwest pharmacy
    canada pharmacies without script
    prescription drugs canada
    best price prescription drugs
    prescription price comparison
    canada drugs online pharmacy
    northwest pharmacy

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *