Relationships
Georges Seurat
Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque)
1887–88
Oil on canvas, 99.7 × 149.9 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
A night scene under gaslight, built from dots and dashes instead of blended paint. Up close the figures break apart into separate touches of blue, red and orange.
- Cobalt blue, ground very fine and at times mixed with red lake or emerald green, supplies the strokes that read as black.
- Each area began with large dots of its main color, followed by ever smaller touches.
- Finishing touches of tiny orange dots, vermilion with chrome yellow, imitate gaslight on the people in the scene.
- The cast is mostly violet and green, warmed in the lit areas. The canvas has never been varnished.
He called his method chromo-luminarism, stressing the glow he was after. He had read the color theories of Chevreul and Ogden Rood.
Concepts
Image: The Met Open Access, 61.101.17 · CC0