Image 266 Toward Modern Art - A Exhibition at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice

Description of Georges Seurat’s painting Bathing in Agnières

The young artist preferred to create his creations on planks of wood rather than on ordinary canvas. He painted sketches. In 1883, the artist finally decided on a large painting. Thus he sought to attract the attention of the Salon, which was to be held soon. The subject was a scene on the banks of the River Seine near Paris. Many Impressionists preferred to depict these very places.

The painting was made for a whole year, but the Salon jury rejected it. But soon Cera and others rejected like him organize their own exhibition and Cera was able to present his creation to the public.

The painter was able to convey the particular atmosphere of a warm summer day. In front of us are the suburbs of a large city with its bridges, huge stone buildings and the chimneys of factories. At first one gets the impression that this canvas is Impressionist. The colors are very bright, and the figure of the rower, who is on the right, is deliberately cut off by the frame. These features were characteristic of Impressionist creations.

But with Sera the entire composition is carefully constructed. Many sketches were made beforehand and every figure was studied in every detail. Some of the poses were borrowed by the painter from the paintings of older artists.

Agnères is a suburb of Paris to the west of it. We see young workers enjoying a rest on the river. In the process of painting the canvas, Sera did not use a special technique, which he developed later. It was called pointillism. But then some parts of the painting were completed.

The painter used special points of color of contrasting tones to create a curious effect of vibration. Thus on the hat of the boy were added points of two shades: blue and orange. The shapes of the painting are simplified as much as possible. The figures are depicted in profile and resemble the reliefs of ancient Egypt.