Seurat and Pointillism

READING COMPREHENSION - George – Pierre Seurat (5TH GRADE)

by Juan Jose Silva Llanos

​[1] Impressionism was a new style of painting that emerged in France in the late 1800s. Impressionist artists used tone and color to show the changing effects of light in nature. By focusing on how objects appeared under certain types of light, the artists strived to capture different moods and emotions in their paintings.

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[2] In order to depict the effects of light on objects at different moments of time, impressionist artists had to paint quickly. They even mixed their paints directly on their canvases to be able to work faster. Georges-Pierre Seurat was an artist who lived during the impressionist movement. He was inspired by impressionism, and especially by its use of light. But he wanted to use a more scientific method to depict light and color in his own paintings.

[3] This can be seen in Seurat’s most renowned painting, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. The painting represents a Sunday on the island of La Grande Jatte in France. If you look at the painting closely, you will notice that all of the scenery and people in it are made up of many dots. Seurat placed over three million dots of different colors next to each other on the canvas. Seurat started the painting in 1884. It took two years for him to complete it using this technique, which became known as pointillism.

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[4] The idea behind pointillism is not to physically mix colors on the canvas. Instead, it uses a lot of tiny dots of color to form a picture. When viewing the picture, the human eye will naturally blend the color spots into a fuller range of tones.

[5] Seurat realized that, because of the subtractive color theory, the more colors that are mixed together, the darker the color becomes. By using pointillism, he could introduce more light into his painting and make the colors look brighter and more vivid.

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[6] Seurat’s fascination with the science of color and light helped him to develop a new style of painting. A Sunday on La Grande Jatte is now considered a masterpiece, and Seurat’s unique methods and ideas have played a crucial role in the development of modern art.

Multiple Choice

1. Comprehension How did using pointillism affect the colors in Seurat’s paintings?

• a. He was not able to introduce light in his paintings.

• b. Everything in the picture was made of colored dots.

• c. By using pointillism, he could introduce more light into his painting and make the colors look

      brighter and more vivid.

• d. Seurat placed more than three million colored dots on his canvas.

Multiple Choice

2. Inference What can be inferred about A Sunday on La Grande Jatte?

• a. Seurat spent many Sundays on the island of La Grande Jatte.

• b. Seurat only used dots to paint the people in the picture.

• c. Seurat made the same number of dots with each color.

• d. Seurat finished the painting in 1886.

Multiple Choice

3. Detail What does the subtractive color theory say?

• a. Darker colors absorb more light on a canvas.

• b. As more colors are mixed together, the color gets darker and darker.

• c. Blending colors on the canvas makes them brighter and more vivid.

• d. The eye will naturally blend colored spots into a full range of tones.

Multiple Choice

4. Detail  When does the Impressionism emerge? 

• a. In France in the 20th century.

• b. In Paris in the 18th century.

• c. In Europe in the early 1800s.

• d. In France in the late 1800s.

Multiple Choice

5. Comprehension The word strived in the passage (paragraph 1) is closest in meaning to:

• a. Attempted.

• b. Emerged.

• c. Mixed.

• d. Failed.