Similarities Between Manet And Georges Seurat

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19th-century Parisian painters Georges Seurat and Edouard Manet intentionally produced innovative works that broke away from formal academic conventions and strongly influenced the course of the art world. Manet's 'Music in the Tuileries' (1862) was very first modern painting [1], marking the art world's turning point from realism to impressionism [2]. While Seurat's 'A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte' (1884-86) was a novel painting style composed exclusively in the style of Pointillism, which brought on the shift to neo-impressionism from impressionism [3]. Both paintings received criticism from commentators when first exhibited but gained posthumous reputations as highly creative and influential painters [2]. Both chose upscale locations frequented by affluent Parisians for their settings, Manet selecting the weekly musical concerts at the Tuileries gardens near the Louvre, and Seurat selecting the island of Grand Jatte by the river bank of Seine.

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Seurat himself said he wanted his subjects to appear as if they are in a classical Greek frieze [5]. Manet was the exact opposite, being full of spontaneity and motion as seen from the light passing through trees overhead, the excited crowd, the sound of the jubilant music and the blurring of some subjects while maintaining perfect clarity for others. For Seurat, everything was thoroughly planned beforehand, as seen from the exacting composition of his multiple sketches [5]. However, for Manet he intentionally painted at a fast pace with loose brushstrokes [2]. Seurat's painting is entirely based on the combination of light and shadow [5]. Instead of using a mixture of paint to achieve the desired colour, Seurat painted small dots and brushstrokes to achieve the same effect [3][5]. Manet uses a mixture of paints to achieve the desired colour in his painting

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