AP Art History PowerPoint Projectby Emily Burlison

p_seurat_sunday_c1884_burl

100 WELL KNOWNWORKS OF ART

Interpreted Using

The

Feldman Model of Formal Analysis

#16 Seurat, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

Feldman’s Model of Art Criticism

From the work of Edmund Burke Feldman,

During the late 1960’s and early 70’s

1. Description-List the visual qualities of the work that are obvious and immediate.

“What do you see in the artwork”?

Include content and subject matter in representational works-

Include abstract elements in nonrepresentational pieces.

2. Analysis-Focus on the formal aspects of elements of art, principles of design.

“How does the artist create a center of interest?

How does the use of color impact the painting?”

3. Interpretation-Propose ideas for possible meaning based on evidence.

“What was the artist trying to communicate”?

4. Judgment-Discuss the overall strengths/success/merit of the work.

How and why has this work achieved cultural value?

Georges Seurat Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1884,Post-Impressionist Movement, paintingParis, France

1.DESCRIPTIONa. Painting

b. Oil on canvas

c. 81.75” x 121.25”

d. People on riverbank

e. Horizontal

f. Soft

g. Objects forms lines that lead the eye to the girl in white in the center

h. Objects grow smaller as the painting moves back in depth

i. 11 colors with the purest hue of each

j. Apparent texture due to paint and style of painting

k. France- 1880s (1884 in Paris)

2.ANALYSISa. Sunday afternoon of French working

class

b. Emphasis on little girl in white in middle

c. Horizontally oriented with harmonious composition

d. People rigid and facing river lends to the formality of painting

e. Natural light effect with shadows used throughout the picture

f. Naturalistic depth

g. Static

h. Utilizes blending technique through use of shadows

i. Painting is balanced throughout

3. Interpretationa. Depicted people relaxing in a

suburban park on an island in the

Seine River called La Grande Jatte1

b. Wished to portray people as realistic in a harmonious color scheme

c. Seurat stated “I want to make modern people, in their essential traits, move about as they do on those friezes, and place them on canvases organized by harmonies of color.”1

4. Judgmenta. What sets this work apart and

Makes it worth studying? (Sunday

Afternoon at the Art Institute of Chicago)

b. How does this work fit into the context of what came before and after it? (Seurat and Neo-Impressionism)

c. How have critics, historians, and the public reacted to this work? (NY Times Review)

d. How has this work changed the way art is viewed? (Influence of Sunday Afternoon)

e. Context with AP Exam: Link to AP Exam Q&A

Use this slide to develop points that may be used in essays. You may also hyperlink to external essay

material here:WSJ Review

Critique of Sunday AfternoonKhan Academy Video

Works of Seurat

Compare and Contrast

A theory or practice of art originating in France in the last quarter of the 19th century that in revolt against

impressionism stresses variously volume, picture structure, or expressionism.2 Vincent van Gogh,

Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec were important post-impressionist

artists.

Summary

POST-IMPRESSIONISM1880-1905

Interesting Facts About Artist• Born into a wealthy family• Attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts• Served a year at Brest military academy• Formed the Societe des Artistes Independants with other

artists in 1884• Lived secretly with young model Madeline Knobloch who

fathered his two sons• Cause of death unknown but was some form of illness• His last work, The Circus, was left unfinished at the time

of his death

Seurat’s first major painting, Bathers at Asnières, preceded Sunday Afternoon. Bathers at Asnières is seen by most as the view of the other side of the river shown in Sunday Afternoon.

References

1. Sunday Afternoon at the Art Institute of Chicago

http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/27992

2. Definition of Postimpressionismhttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/

postimpressionism