A SUNDAY ON LA GRANDE JATTE Feldman Method
- Slides: 8
A SUNDAY ON LA GRANDE JATTE Feldman Method of Criticism Trystan Beach
ARTIST The artist of A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Georges Seurat, was born in Paris in December 2, 1859. He was born into a rich family and studied art from a sculptor named Justin Lequiene. Georges died on March 29, 1891. Sources: http: //www. georgesseurat. org/
DESCRIPTION The art was created with oil on a canvas. It’s named , ”A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” because it simply shows the usual events on La Grande Jatte during the weekend or just Sunday specifically. The work shows multiple people near a body of water. They all are wearing formal clothing. Most of the woman have umbrellas. A lot of them are under shade as well. There are small boats in the body of water. The colors in the painting are more intense in the background than in the foreground. In the foreground, the colors are less vibrant and dull with less texture of figures and values showing. Unless a person in the painting is emphasized, the values are simplistic to go with the rest of the style of this artwork. The beings in the object seems to be created from multiple simple shapes such as circles and ovals but most of the shapes are organic. It’s named , ”A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” because it simply shows the usual events on La Grande Jatte during the weekend or just Sunday specifically.
ANALYSIS Movement is shown when beings look unbalanced. For example, The brown dog in the foreground looks like he’s moving because he looks unbalanced compared to the rest. It would look unnatural to see a dog resting in that stance. Another way they show movement is through value. We know the dog is in the air because he’s disconnected from the shadow. It would be unnatural for a shadow to be in that area if he was sitting down. Another example of movement in the painting is the girl in the background dancing which shares the same characteristic of looking unbalanced with the brown dog in the foreground. The character in the middle of the painting is slightly more emphasized than the rest of the beings. Her clothes looks more intense and has more value than the rest. Proportion is shown as well. It’s shown very explicitly because characters of similar size in the background are smaller which adds depth. This feeling of proportion is easily achieved when you compare the size of people in the foreground to the size of the trees and the people in the background compared to the trees.
INTERPRET I think the people in the artwork are relaxing near a body of water on a sunny day. Many of them are under shade or umbrellas so they’re blocked from the heat. It has a very positive mood because of the bright colors and how laid-back or energetic each person looks like. The setting is a place in France because that’s where the artist grew up.
DECIDE The artwork is technically successful. The blend of shapes and value works well. You can tell that each person in this work is made out of shapes because of how simple they looks and how basic and small the values are without looking unnatural to the point which the light source is located. Overall, these two elements work together to make the artwork looks simplistic.
AESTHETICS The artwork is extremely proportionate. Most people are either looking directly at the point of view in the work or their body is completely turned from the point of view from a 90 degree angle, which is probably why the art work looks so flat. There is very little movement in the artwork. Even if most of the objects are moving, they look like they’re posing more than moving. The only objects are people you know are moving like animals or the girl dancing in the background because they’re all in an awkward position compared to the rest of people.
EVALUATION Overall, this artwork is good because of how it blends the simplistic design and technics such as pointillism and the elements of shape and value. Major aspects of this works together really well. My only problem with the artwork is the trees in the background. The contour of the top of the trees look faded into the sky like a light source. It would look more natural in the work if it was more solid.
