~NEO-IMPRESSIONISM~

My brief summary of neo-impressionism: Neo-impressionism movement started in 1886. The theoretical basis of Neo-Impressionism was divisionism, with its associated technique of pointillism—the use of dots of pure colour applied in such a way that when seen from an appropriate distance they achieve a maximum of luminosity. In each painting the dots were of a uniform size, chosen to harmonize with the scale of the work.

Neo-Impressionism. A movement in French painting—both a development from Impressionism and a reaction against it—in which the Impressionist approach to depicting light and colour was made more rational and scientific. Georges Seurat was the founder of the movement and far and away its outstanding artist. His friend Paul Signac was its main theoretician, and Camille Pissarro was briefly a leading adherent. All three showed Neo-Impressionist pictures at the final Impressionist exhibition in 1886 (the term Neo-Impressionism was coined by the critic Félix Fénéon (1861–1944) in a review of this exhibition). The theoretical basis of Neo-Impressionism was divisionism, with its associated technique of pointillism—the use of dots of pure colour applied in such a way that when seen from an appropriate distance they achieve a maximum of luminosity. In each painting the dots were of a uniform size, chosen to harmonize with the scale of the work. In Seurat's paintings, this approach combined solidity and clarity of form with a vibrating intensity of light; in the hands of lesser artists, it often produced works that look rigid and contrived. As an organized movement Neo-Impressionism was short-lived, but it had a significant influence on several major artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, notably Gauguin, van Gogh, and also Matisse, who worked with Signac and another Neo-Impressionist, Henri-Edmond Cross (1856–1910), at Saint Tropez in 1906.

IAN CHILVERS. "Neo-Impressionism." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Retrieved June 05, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O2-NeoImpressionism.html

Georges Pierre Seurat
Georges Seurat, 1888
Born	2 December 1859 Paris, France
Died	29 March 1891 (aged 31) Paris, France
Nationality	French
Field	Painting
Movement	Post-Impressionism, Neo-impressionism, Pointillism, modern art
Works	Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

 Georges Pierre Seurat: (2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French Post-Impressionist painter and draftsman. He is noted for his innovative use of drawing media and for devising a technique of painting known as pointillism. His large-scale work A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884–1886) altered the direction of modern art by initiating Neo-impressionism. It is one of the icons of late 19th-century painting.