A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte - Essay Example

The work A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte – 1884 by one of the most eminent French painters, Georges Seurat, is a great example ofpointillism (Buser 419). In this respect the uniqueness of the painting itself is in the way Seurat uses the lines. In fact, the painter was well devoted to the impressionism in the visual arts along with his own vision of how it should be at the moment. This is why the four lines Seurat used in his work are upward, horizontal, diagonal, and downward.

It is reached through the use of the gestalt technique, meaning connected dots the painter uses to describe the wholeness and harmony throughout the painting. First off, the gestalt technique used by Seurat presupposes that medium or distant images are masked before those in the foreground in terms of proximity. That is, gestalt principle states that “objects that occur in proximity to one another are perceived as beginning to form a pattern or whole” (Dewey 1). Thus, he uses upward lines to describe fun and amusement in the picture (Buser 419).

It is seen in the upper part where children are playing, yachts/boats are drifting and people seem to highly enjoy their leisure time. Second, horizontal lines are used by Seurat to describe tranquility (Buser 419). Men and women lying distantly under the trees used to describe such an emotion. Third, diagonal lines are used by Seurat to show tiresome people on the lain (Buser 419). People in the foreground close to the pond illuminate this feeling. Finally, downward lines are used for grief (Buser 419).

It is focused on the couple of noble people in the foreground who may think of the best moments that have passed in their life. The gestalt technique of dotting used by Seurat adds to the uniqueness of the whole painting. Therefore, the work by George Seurat is painted through the usage of four different lines to show four different emotional states. Thereupon, the upward line is for gaiety, the horizontal line is for calm, the diagonal line is for tiredness, and the downward line is to show sadness.

Describing all these features through the gestalt technique makes the painting whole. Works Cited Buser, Thomas. Experiencing art around us. 2. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Cengage Learning, 2005. Dewey, Ryan. "The Gestalt Principle of Proximity, Pointillism, and Sex at Starbucks." 2011. Sport Linguistics. 12 September 2011 .