impressionist-ART.com
Impressionism & Post-Impressionism
Georges Seurat - The Bridge at Courbevoie 1887The Bridge at Courbevoie |
Johannes Vermeer - The Girl with a Pearl Earring 1665. It is not a portrait, but a ‘tronie’ – a painting of an imaginary figure. Tronies depict a certain type or character; in this case a girl in exotic dress, wearing an oriental turban and an improbably large pearl in her ear. ArtsViewer.com |
From Courtauld Institute of Art, London:
Seurat painted this view of the river Seine in the industrial suburb of Courbevoie near Paris, using the pointillist or divisionist technique he had created. Pointillism relies on the scientific theory that colours are stronger if juxtaposed in small dots, rather than being mixed together.
The scene shows an island called the Grande Jatte, which Seurat often painted, but the mood is unusually sombre and silent. The isolated human figures add to the sense of melancholy.
(Permanent collection label)