Pointillism

Several artists over the last hundred years have utilized halftoning in paintings by using stippling. In these paintings, artists put dots of primary or complimentary colors on the canvas to achieve a certain color blend when viewing the painting at a distance. This approach, which is known as pointillism, contrasts with the conventional approach of mixing colors on a palette before applying the paint using sweeping and fine strokes.

Georges-Pierre Seurat

The founder of pointillism is Georges-Pierre Seurat (1859-1891). Pointillism, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is "the theory or practice in art of applying small strokes or dots of color to a surface so that from a distance they blend together." Pointillism was a French movement of the late 1800s that was an offshoot of Impressionism. Other pointillists of the era were Camille Pissarro, Henri-Edmond Cross, Maximilien Luce, Theo van Rysselberghe, and Paul Signac.

Gallery of artwork by Georges-Pierre Seurat.

Modern Artists

A few artists of the 1900s exhibit pointillism in some of their works.


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