Pointillism
A painting technique using small dots of color.
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Pointillism is a painting technique that uses small, distinct dots of color in patterns to form an image.[1] Art critics in the late 1880s first used "Pointillism" as a mocking term for these artists' work, though the word no longer carries that negative meaning today.[2]
Quick Facts
- Field
- Painting
- Known for
- Technique of applying small dots of color to form images
- Developed by
- Georges Seurat and Paul Signac
- Related movement
- Neo-impressionism
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
A viewer's eye and mind are responsible for merging the individual dots of color into a complete tonal range.[2] Pointillism and Divisionism are connected; Divisionism is a more technical approach emphasizing color theory, whereas pointillism concentrates on the particular brushwork style.[2] Divisionist painters employed a comparable method but applied paint using larger, cube-shaped brushstrokes.[3] Between 1905 and 1907, both Robert Delaunay and Jean Metzinger created works in a Divisionist manner, utilizing sizable squares or "cubes" of color.[4]
Art critic Louis Chassevent noted the distinction in 1906 and employed the term "cube," a word later instrumental in naming Cubism.[5] Chassevent described Metzinger as a mosaicist akin to Signac, but one who cuts his color cubes with greater mechanical precision.[5] This technique resembles the CMYK printing process, which uses dots of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black in color printers.[6] Computer monitors and televisions employ a comparable approach, using red, green, and blue dots to display image colors.[6]
Oil paint is the most common medium for Pointillism, chosen for its thick consistency and resistance to running or bleeding.[7]
What the cited sources add
The Artcyclopedia account states that Pointillism is a form of painting in which tiny dots of primary colors generate secondary colors.[8] It notes that the term "Pointillism" was first used with respect to the work of Georges Seurat, who is the artist most closely associated with the movement.[8] The same source says Pointillism is considered to have been an influence on Fauvism.[8]
References
- Wikipedia, "Pointillism" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "pointillism", Oxford University Press (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Pointillism" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Pointillism", www.artcyclopedia.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Pointillism" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ruhrberg, Karl. "Seurat and the Neo-Impressionists". Art of the 20th Century, Vol. 2. Koln: Benedikt Taschen Verlag, 1998. . (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Pointillism" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jean Metzinger, ca. 1907, quoted in Georges Desvallières, La Grande Revue, vol. 124, 1907, as cited in Robert L. Herbert, 1968, Neo-Impressionism, The Solomon R (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Pointillism" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Robert L. Herbert, 1968, Neo-Impressionism, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York; Louis Chassevent: Les Artistes indépendantes, 1906; Louis Chassevent, 22e Salon des Indépendants, 1906, Quelques petits salons, Paris, 1908, p. 32; Daniel Robbins, 1964, Albert Gleizes 1881 – 1953, A Retrospective Exhibition, Published by The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, in collaboration with (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Pointillism" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Vivien Greene, Divisionism, Neo-Impressionism: Arcadia & Anarchy, Guggenheim Museum Publications, 2024 , (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Pointillism" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Nathan, Solon. "Pointillism Materials." Web. 9 Feb 2010" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Pointillism", www.artcyclopedia.com. facts only, no text reused. artcyclopedia.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Pointillism (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Art Movements
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Pointillism (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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