Seurat and the Sea

Seurat and the Sea 
at The Courtauld 
until 17 May 

Coming hard on the heels of The National Gallery’s Radical Harmony we have another opportunity to enjoy the work of Georges Seurat, one of a handful of artists who personally invented a style which is instantly recognisable and easy to define – even if it has several names. Best known as ‘Pointilism’, due to its use of ‘points’ of pure colour, sometimes referred to as ‘Divisionism’, as the colours are divided into separate dabs or strokes of the brush, the term accepted by the artists themselves was ‘Neo-Impressionism’ - giving new life to the Impressionist aim to capture the freshness of the world as we know it, but to instil that with a sense of timelessness and monumentality.

This will be the first exhibition dedicated to Seurat’s seascapes, and promises a lightness of touch, a luminosity and harmony which will be the perfect antidote to the grey, wet weather which England (at least) has endured so far this year. These are the paintings that Seurat created over five summers on the northern coast of France when he wanted ‘to wash his eyes of the days spent in the studio and to translate in the most faithful manner the bright clarity, in all its nuances.’ 

It never ceases to surprise me that Seurat died at the age of 31. There was so little time for him to paint that every opportunity to see his works should be relished. It may also come as a surprise that The Courtauld has the best collection of his paintings in the UK, and this will form the core of what will be the most remarkably refreshing and inivorating exhibition.

Please remember, I do not record my talks.