Pointillism and colour theory.

Pointillism

Paul Signac, Venice- The Pink Cloud (1909)

Georges Seurat- la senna alla grande-jatte (1888)

Pointillism was a revolutionary technique coined by artists Georges Seurat and Paul Signac in 1880. This developed after impressionism and was a pictorial technique which consisted of applying small individual dots of colour to form an image. 

The technique is distinct in its approach to application in that dots were applied of specific colour tones to create an almost illusionistic transformation of colour, where by the application of paint is carefully considered so that they would be blended by the viewer when looking into the painting. Therefore, instead of mixing colours on a palette, these artists wanted the colour mixing to be achieved through looking.

Pointillism relied on scientific theory about optical applications. Charles Henry, a French mathematician-physiologist-psychologist, wrote a book called "The Chromatic Circle" which was all about how the positioning of colours in a circle can create new colour combinations. 

Paul Signac created advertising artwork for the book. During the time of the 1880's the colour theories of scientists like were studied and applied by Signac, Seurat and other artists who used the pointillist adoption of dots for colour application. 

From this complimentary colours were born. Complimentary colours are colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel.

Seurat- Sunday Afternoon

In the painting above, Seurat uses complimentary colours by placing colours such as placing blue dots on the man wearing the orange t-shirt, Seurat knew that using complimentary colours would create more light intensity.

Seurat also made changes to some of his paintings and added painted borders of coloured dots. The borders were intended to compliment his art. He sometimes even painted the frames of his paintings!

From Pointillism to Fauvism

Pointillism had a direct influence on Fauvism as can be seen in Henri Matisse's CALME ET VOLUPTÉ, 1904.