This week I went on a family vacation to Chicago and had the chance to visit The Art Institute of Chicago.
One of my favorite paintings I had the chance to see was, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, by Georges Seurat. My favorite thing about the work was the technique the artistused. Seurat’s technique was pointillism where he used repetition by placing tiny, brush strokes of different colors close to one another so they blend at a distance.I have seen the work before but viewing it up close and being able to see how all of the tiny dots come together to make a masterpiece was incredible. Looking at the piece my eye was initially drawn to the right side because the woman holding the umbrella seems to be the focal point and this section has the most visual weight on the work.
Looking at the painting shows many different people coming together in one common area but it seems that they all are distant from one another. Each person sits or stands alone or accompanied by one other person and is seems to be distant from others around them.
I researched some possible meaningsbehind the composition. Some believe it was representative of the growing middle class at leisure. The theory I agree most with is it represents the tensionbetween different social classes; they all gather in a common space but do not interact with one another. Viewing the painting and trying to interpret its meaning I got the impression that the artist was trying to dipict people gathering but still being isolated from one another.
Overall, I enjoyed my experienceat the Art Institute of Chicago and saw many amazing, works. I also found the museums website that allows you to explore the museum and find more about each work at: http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/current.php
