Dot by Dot, Sea by Sea: Seurat's painting glow at the Courtauld

"Georges Seurat was a French post-Impressionist best known for a technique later dubbed pointillism: painting not with expressive brushstrokes, but by patiently placing thousands of tiny dots onto the surface. Rather than mixing colours on a palette, Seurat relied on the viewer's eye to do the work. The dots optically blend at a distance, creating the colour and light he intended."

"Modern colour printing works in much the same way, using tiny dots of a few base colours to create the full spectrum we perceive when we step back. With Seurat, that stepping back is essential. Up close, you see the dots and dashes; from a distance, the image resolves. In that sense, the viewer becomes part of the creative process, with the final act of blending completed by the brain rather than the brush."

Georges Seurat employed pointillism by placing thousands of tiny dots so the eye, not the brush, blends colour and light at a distance. Modern colour printing uses a similar optical dot principle. The step of viewing from afar is essential because up close the dots are visible while the image resolves from a distance. Seurat died at 31, leaving a small body of work. A focused group of his coastal paintings shows open shorelines and constructed harbours recorded along the French coast. Many harbour scenes lack people, producing a faint unease. The paintings convey quiet, contemplative moods.

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