Focus on The Channel of Gravelines, Petit Fort Philippe and analyze the Description.
As one of Seurat's final paintings, The Channel of Gravelines, Petit Fort Philippe demonstrates beautifully the principles of Seurat's own Neo-Impressionist movement. His systematic application of dots in colors carefully chosen according to laws of chromatic harmony results in unparalleled luminosity. Seurat painted a narrow border of darker dots around the edge of the canvas, heightening the brilliance of the light. The frame (a reproduction of Seurat's original design) with its vivid ultramarine base and dots echoing the adjacent canvas, enhances the colors still further. In addition to his careful control of the dots' color, Seurat also used their shape and density to achieve his vision. The extremely solid central bollard has the greatest density of dots, while the right side of the sky is so loosely covered that the white ground layer is visible. Based upon the bright light and stark shadows, Seurat painted in midafternoon.Although Seurat was quite faithful to the actual architecture of the harbor, to the extent that much of it is recognizable to this day, he arrayed the boats so their horizontal and vertical elements resulted in maximum visual stability. The elegant parabola of the wharf induces serenity. Stretching into infinity, it evokes the immensity of the sea. Simultaneously, the sweeping diagonal cutting the composition in two provides contrasting movement.Seurat's quest for aesthetic perfection can be seen in the number of alterations he made between his initial studies and the final painting. The central bollard anchors the composition securely, so solid as to be nearly graspable, but was missing from the panel study. Comparing the final canvas to the rest of his studies reveals that, in addition to arranging the boats in a neat, calm horizontal line, Seurat also tweaked the walkway to give the channel a greater role in the composition. Thus, sea, sky, and ground occupy roughly equal proportions.
bollard canvas Gravelines Neo-Impressionist