Analysis of The Circus by George Seurat - Essay Example

The essay "Analysis of The Circus by George Seurat" examines the painting of famous artist Seurat. Due to the method’s demand for hard work, prevented its completion despite the published fact that he usually stays by himself working for long hours of the day and through the night on his paintings. The Circus as the title implies is the setting of the picture which shows the ringmaster on the forefront, the joyful dancing of the lady, prancing horse and the clown on his upside-down stunt. The painting depicts the gaiety going in the circus considered to have been a part of his experimentation of colors, as he also considered emotional characters coming out from his former mood of being very formal and static.

Created during the years when Paris was still feeling the effects of the Franco-Prussian war, “The Circus” portrays the other side of the great devastation experienced during this time which recorded 36,000 people who died of starvation when the Germans besieged Paris and cut off all food supplies. Despite this fact, France rose to gather great minds from around the world and introduce their expertise and studies. It has been noted that Seurat and other impressionists never portrayed the dark side of the circumstances in France which could most probably be the reason behind the subject of this painting because Seurat would rather leave an impression to his audiences of the joyful pleasures the circus brings.

During the time of Seurat, artworks have been a major contribution to the development of the country., attracting peoples from around the world not only in arts but also in other areas like philosophy, Sciences and Mathematics so that France then became the center of information and development. One of the developments produced in this era is what Seurat birthed as the Pointillism mentioned earlier which is also known as neo-impressionism. This was also the time when the ‘salon’, the French Academy of Art controlled the industry, dictating theme and style used in the artworks so that Seurat’s modern approach to his artwork was rejected because it was considered to be against the then generally accepted perception of art and beauty.

The salon gave good exposure of artists and their works so it has been a very powerful tool to the success or fall of artists. Seurat was sneered at and his works have been despised by the impressionists but these did not thwart him in pursuing his personal style of performing arts in what he believed he could effectively use. He then joined hands with other artists whose works have also been rejected by the salon and formed an independent body where they coordinated their own exhibits. Contrary to what Seurat experienced with the impressionists, his artwork has been acclaimed by the increasingly educated population in the use of modern concepts.

This gave Seurat a platform to continue with his style which he was known for and also to be the father of which, taking a little following and influencing other successful artists during his time. The ringmaster’s whip and the whiplash is the motif repetitively expressed in