Cathy's Art Diary

Fascinating online lecture from the National Gallery looking at the life and work of the 19th century artist Georges Seurat. Amy Mechowski, a freelance art historian, started by leading us though Seurat’s life and techniques. She outlined ideas of colour contrast, Pointillism and Neo-Impressionism clearly, then talked us through the main paintings which used these ideas. I n the second half she focused on Seurat’s works which would appear in the “Radical Harmony” exhibition at the Gallery. Since I listened to the talk I have visited the show and this was a useful introduction to what I saw there.

This years Take One Picture exhibition at the National Gallery which choses a picture, this year Seurat’s “The Bathers” and asked schools to respond to it. Each school looked at a different aspects   of the picture landscape, leisure, work, clothes etc. One school had used what they had seen on the way to the gallery and did a picture map of the Thames with bridges across the river and people walking and sitting at either side. Some children from Barnsley had made a miner banner incorporating their town and images from the picture. One school had made sheep fleece felt hats like the boy in the water is wearing. However best of all was the wicket version of the dog made the Ysgol Griffith Jones School in Carmarthen. This show is always really interesting because as well as seeing how children have viewed a work it makes you look at it differently and see new things in it.

Workshop at the National Gallery in their “A Look Inside” series looking at Seurat’s “The Bathers”. This morning was led by Ben Street, a lecturer at the gallery, and examined whether the picture was of or against it’s time. It put it in the context of the impressionists but also looked at his more academic influences. We also discussed the social context of the picture and the fact it was painted the same year as “Sunday Afternoon at the Island of Grand Jatte” and whether the pictures could be viewed as a pair. We ended by spending about ¾ hour in front of the picture looking at the techniques in detail and sharing ideas from the session. A great way to spend a Saturday morning.