Style Imitating Art: “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”

Style Imitating Art…

Welcome to Style Imitating Art which comes from Salazar, Shelbee, and me. You can think of this series as fashion meets art museum! SIA challenges people to find inspiration in different art works, create looks based upon that art work, and share them with the curator for that piece. Shelbee is this week’s curator with this beautiful piece of art. I hope you enjoy this post, the information, and my interpretation.

How it works…

Every other Monday one of us selects an inspiration piece of art and posts the image on their blog. We then invite others to interpret that art work through their style. The following Monday, we share our outfits. The curator shares submissions the following Wednesday on her blog. Shelbee chose this week’s art work for this round of Style Imitating Art. If you’d like, you can read why she chose it here. Please send your photo to Shelbee by Tuesday, August 13th by 10 pm EST. Style Imitating Art is an interesting way to inspire your outfits. You can see a few of my looks here, here, here, and here.

About the artist…

Oh, you know I loved this piece of art because it’s…OK, it’s not Impressionism…it’s Neo-Impressionism. As far as I can tell, Neo-Impressionism honed some of the skills developed by the Impressionists, decided en plein air painting wasn’t a necessity, and added a little math into the equation (pun intended). Georges Pierre Seurat was born in Paris on December 2, 1859. His father, Antoine Chrysostome Seurat, became a wealthy man by speculating in property. His mother, Ernestine Faivre, was from Paris and apparently had no career. Seurat had an older brother and sister. Interestingly, Seurat’s father lived in Le Raincy, a fancy commune in the suburbs of Paris, and would “visit” his family once a week. Hmmm…seems like the elder Seurat had a good thing going, right?

A little more…

Seurat began his art studies at the École Municipale de Sculpture et Dessin which was near the family home. It was run by a sculptor by the name of Justin Lequien. By 1878, Seurat had moved on to the École des Beaux-Arts. There he followed conventional academic training in the form of drawing from casts of antique sculptures as well as copying drawings by the old masters. This created an artist who had a very fertile theory of contrasts which he employed on all of his works thereafter. In November, 1879, his formal education ended when he left for a year of military service.

Still more…

After completing his year of service, he returned to Paris and worked for the next two years using Conté crayons to hone his skills at monochrome drawing. He also studied the works of Eugène Delacroix, noting the way he used color. It was about this time, Seurat began to leave behind many of the techniques of the Impressionists. In 1883, he began working on his first big painting, “Bathers at Asnières” which showed the influences of the Impressionists with the colors and light tones, but Seurat also employed “smooth, simplified textures and carefully outlined, rather sculptural figures (source).” Unlike the Impressionists who tried to complete paintings in one go as they painted en plein air, Seurat would make a number of drawings or oil sketches and then work on the piece in his actual studio.

A bit more…

The painting was rejected by the Paris Salon so he showed it at the Groupe des Artistes Indépendants in May 1884. Eventually, Seurat and other artists he’d met decided this particular group was not for them. They would break away and form the Société des Artistes Indépendants. It was during this time, Seurat began to develop his ideas on pointillism

Math, science, and that kinda stuff…

Color theory began to play a large role in Seurat’s work as well as others. Several scientist-writers began to write about color, optical effects, and perception. Basically, Michel Eugène Chevreul produced a color wheel of primary and intermediary hues. He was a chemist who restored tapestries and noticed, in order to most perfectly restore a tapestry, he had to pay attention to the colors surround the missing wool. He had to take into account the surrounding dyes, then he could place the other color which would, in such close proximity, give the effect of another color altogether when seen from a distance. In other words, when colors are grouped closely together, the eye perceives them as a completely different color. This became the basis for pointillism, a technique of the Neo-Impressionist painters.

Even more…

Chevreul recognized the “halo” we see when we look at a color for along time, then look away or close our eyes. The color we then see is the complimentary color. The Neo-Impressionists used complimentary colors in order to create this halo effect.

“In his works, Chevreul advised artists to think and paint not just the color of the central object, but to add colors and make appropriate adjustments to achieve a harmony among colors. It seems that the harmony Chevreul wrote about is what Seurat came to call “emotion (source)”.

Finally…

Seurat become involved with Madeleine Knobloch (or Madeleine Knoblock), an artist’s model. In 1889, they lived together in Seurat’s studio on the seventh floor of 128 bis Boulevard de Clichy. After she became pregnant, they moved to a different studio and gave birth to their son, Pierre-Georges, on February 16, 1890. On March 29, 1891, Seurat passed at his parents’ home in Paris. He was only 31. Some causes of death have been said to be meningitis, pneumonia, infectious angina, and/or diphtheria. Two weeks later, his son would also pass. At the time of Seurat’s death, Madeleine was pregnant with their second child who died during or shortly after his birth. For so much more information about the science, the math, and the life of Seurat, you can find it all here.

About the art work…

“A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” is oil on canvas. The painting measures 81 3/4 × 121 1/4 in (207.5 × 308.1 cm). That is a large painting! Needless to say, it is Seurat’s most famous painting! Seurat worked on it between May 1884 and March 1885. He then resumed work from October 1885 to May 1886. As you can see, Seurat focused as much on the actual landscape as he did the figures. He concentrated on color, light and form. Prior to this painting, Seurat made many preliminary drawings as well as oil sketches. Our painting was acquired by Frederic Clay and Helen Birch Bartlett in 1924 and given to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1926. It can be seen in Gallery 240. I think I may check that out the next time I’m in Chicago! Again, you can read so much more about this painting here. Click on the + for more detailed information. Another complete painting, measuring 27.75 x 41 in (70.t x 104.1 cm), is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A little more…

The Island of la Grande Jatte is an actual place. It is at the gates of Paris, lying in the Seine between Neuilly and Levallois-Perret, a very short distance from where the La Defense business district is. While at one time, the location was an industrial site, now you will find a public garden as well as a housing development. In 1884, when Seurat began the painting, it was a retreat from the urban center of Paris. Ah, how I want to visit Paris! For more information on the painting, you can find that here.

My interpretation…

I just happened to have the perfect dress for this challenge. I purchased the Lillian dress during the recent summer sale at Gudrun Sjödén. How serendipitous it is covered in dots, right? I was torn by all the choices, but, ultimately, I selected the Pigeon Blue color. And, I am so glad I did because it not only picks up the blues in so many of the dresses, parasols, and river, it’s polka dotted! The only thing wrong with this dress is it’s a very heavy linen dress. While the temperature the day we took the photos was only in the 70s (21 C), the humidity was quite high. I had already decided to wear a hat though my hat would have been out of fashion when you look at Seurat’s painting! I also added a polka dot slip to add further “points” to my interpretation!

The Lewk!

Hey, look! It’s my L’Artiste wedges again! I love these sandals because my feet stay in them, and they’re also comfortable. I didn’t have any polka dot jewelry. If you look closely, you’ll see a faint design on the necklace that resembles polka dots. Both the earrings and the necklace are from J Jill. The earrings are current, but the necklace is from a couple of years ago.

Wrap it up, Marsha!

Can I let you in on a little secret? One of my favorite apps is “Happy Color,” and I have colored this painting a few times because I just love it! I was thrilled when Shelbee selected it. When I was teaching, we had an amazing art teacher. She brought out such creativity in our students. One of her projects for the older grades was pointillism. The student work was beautiful! Luckily, she displayed it in the hallways, and we all enjoyed it. So, can we talk? Would you have the patience to create a work in pointillism? Do you use any of the “painting” apps? Did you watch the Olympics? If so, what were your favorite moments? Please leave me a comment or two, and we can talk. I promise to respond as quickly as I can.

Don’t forget…

If you want to be included in the Style Imitating Art round up, send Shelbee your photo by 10:00 pm EST Tuesday, August 13th. Photos of everyone participating will appear on her blog on Wednesday, August 14th! I honestly think this is one of the best pieces of art we’ve shown. There are so many ways to approach the challenge…the colors, the lines, the images, the dots. You could have lots of fun creating a look! Come on, give it a try! I think you’ll love it!

Thank you!

I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for reading, commenting, subscribing or emailing! It truly means so much to me! If you’d like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me here.

Affiliate links, discount codes and such:

Just a reminder that Marsha in the Middle may use an affiliate link. Those links are usually italicized. If you click or make a purchase from an italicized link I provide, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for your support. I am an April Cornell Brand Ambassador for another season. You can use my code, MARSHA15, for $15 off any order over $100. Use Marsha12 for 12% off any order of $65 or more at Buykud. I have also become a Halftee Partner. Use the code, MARSHA2098, for 20% off any purchase. I am also an affiliate with Clara Sunwoo. You can use my code, MARSHA10, for 10% off your entire order. In case you didn’t know, bloggers must disclose the use of affiliate links. That’s why I include this in each post.

Where you can find me:

Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion Style,  Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, Shelbee on the Edge, Chez Mireile, Suzy Turner, and Away from the Blue as well as Deb’s World and A Fresh Cup of Coffee. I also link up with This Blonde’s Shopping Bag, Doused in Pink, I do deClaire, Mummabstylish, Style Splash and Elegantly Dressed and Stylish as well as the Senior Salon Pit Stop (Esme’s Salon) and Slices of Life. Please check out these wonderful ladies and their blogs! I also am a co-host for Ageless Style on the third Thursday of the month and Songful Style on the last Monday of the month. I co-host Traffic Jam Weekend every Thursday with Melynda, Lisa, and Sue. I also host Final Fridays on the last Friday of the month as well as 10 on the 10th on the 10th of the month! I do hope you’ll check out all of these blogs and link parties!

First Name

Last Name

List choice Marsha’s Blog

Email address:

Leave this field empty if you’re human: