Georges Seurat (b. 1859, Paris; d. 1891, Paris) is known mainly for his colorful pointillist paintings, but the innovative treatment of light that characterizes his work is already found in the early black and white drawings he made in Paris.
The method of painting created by Seurat himself, chromoluminarism or divisionism, consisted of the arrangement of luminous dots of color on the surface, juxtaposing complementary tones so that the chromatic fusion would take place in the viewer’s retina. Seurat used the theories of authors like Charles Blanc, Michel-Eugène Chevreul, and Ogden Rood both for the development of this method and for the systematic study through drawing of the effect of light and shadow.
An understanding of the characteristics of Georges Seurat’s drawing tools is of great assistance in interpreting his works. He drew with a Conté stick on Michallet paper. By combining the qualities of the two materials, a kind of fusion is produced between figure and background.
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