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Profile of the Day: Georges Seurat

On this day in 1859, French Neo-Impressionist artist Georges Seurat was born. Known for devising his own painting technique called pointillism, Seurat is remembered as one of the most iconic artists of the late 19th-century.

Image: Georges Seurat / Wikimedia Commons

Seurat was born on December 2, 1859 in Paris, France to Antoine Chrysostome Seurat and Ernstine Faivre. His father was a former legal official who had become wealthy from speculating property. He received his first art lessons as a child from his uncle, who was an amateur painter. Around 1875, he began his formal training when he entered a local art school and studied under sculptor Justin Lequien.

During his studies, Seurat became fascinated with the science behind art and focused on the scientific study of color theory and optical physics. He later developed his own painting style which became known as Pointillism, in which small, distinct dots are applied in patterns to form an image. In 1884, Seurat began work on A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. It took Seurat two years to finish the 10-foot wide painting and is today, considered to be his masterpiece.

Seurat died on March 29, 1891 at the age of 31 from what was likely pneumonia or meningitis.

View Georges Seurat’s Geni Profile

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The post Profile of the Day: Georges Seurat first appeared on The Geni Blog.

Source: Geni.com

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