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Pointillism
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A group of people, some seated on a bench and others standing, view Georges Seurat's painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Connecting the dots: What is pointillism?
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Also called:
divisionism and chromo-luminarism
Date:
c. 1885 - c. 1910
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A group of people, some seated on a bench and others standing, view Georges Seurat's painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Georges Seurat: A Sunday on La Grande Jatte—1884 Museum patrons looking at A Sunday on La Grande Jatte—1884, oil on canvas by Georges Seurat, 1884/86; at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Pointillism

art
Also known as: chromo-luminarism
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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Connecting the dots: What is pointillism?
Connecting the dots: What is pointillism?Let's get to the point: 220,000 points, in fact.
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Pointillism, in painting, the practice of applying small strokes or dots of color to a surface so that from a distance they visually blend together. The technique is associated with its inventor, Georges Seurat, in such works as A Sunday on La Grande Jatte—1884 (1884/86) and Bathers at Asnières (1884). He and his student, Paul Signac, both espoused Neo-Impressionism, a movement that flourished from the late 1880s to the first decade of the 20th century.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Alicja Zelazko.