Georges Seurat has always fascinated me. I was intrigued by how he was so influenced by contemporary ideas on optics and colour that he devised another way to make art and create more luminosity and brilliance. He called it his ‘method, the art world called it pointillism, and at the Courtauld Gallery you can get up close to that technique at the Seurat and the Sea exhibition, writes Michael Holland.
An exhibition of Seurat’s art is nothing new, this one devoted to his seascapes is a world first. And the gallery has not only brought the large seascapes on canvas together but also several of the oil sketches on wood that the artist made by the docks or on the cliffs above the sea. Putting them together made it possible to see how the artist created a painting that was ready for the public. You could the additions or amendments he would make in that journey from sketch to canvas.
The sketches created on site would then be worked up back at Seurat’s Paris studio. His wooden boards would be covered with small dashes or dots of colour, rather than the freestyling broad brush strokes of his contemporaries. Rather than blend colours on a palette he would just place them side by side when he sketched plein-air. Seurat then transferred that idea to the canvas.
For me, he created artworks that were more atmospheric. He was able to make the viewer feel like the sun was literally behind them as they looked upon the vista he had painted, as though you were shielding your eyes while gazing through a fine silken gauze. At the same time, however, they often appear somehow mistily unwordly.
There is much to see and ponder when you see the seascapes gathered together. I thought about how the art world ridiculed Seurat’s methodical dots, mocking how he used a scientific approach to art. In fact, Pointillism was initially used as a derogatory term… Seurat is not mocked now. I also thought about a trip to the French coast and have the warm sun behind me.
Seurat and the Sea is an important exhibition. So much so the Courtauld has extended its opening hours on every Friday evening until 8pm throughout the run to ensure visitors do not miss out.
An added bonus is the opportunity to visit A View of One’s Own: Landscapes by British Women Artists, 1760 – 1860. A look back to a time when women rarely had a voice, or listened to if they sought one.
Here we have a roomful of accomplished artworks, many showing delicate detail, and by women who were sidelined by the art world of the day and washed out of art history. Now is the chance to see some of them in all their glory.
The Griffin Catalyst Exhibition: Seurat and the Sea until 17 May 2026.
Booking and full details: https://courtauld.ac.uk/whats-on/exh-seurat-and-the-sea/
