Teaching the Elements of Art Using Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” (1884)
In this lesson, we will:
Define the elements of art that make up an artist’s toolkit.
Define the principles of design and how they govern the elements of art.
Explore how Georges Seurat employed the elements of art and principles of design in his A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884).
As both a Sondheim and John Hughes movie fan, I have long loved Georges Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884). Painstakingly painted in the Pointillist techinique over the course of two years, Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte depicts Parisians of varying social classes at leisure in a park on La Grande Jatte, an island located in the Seine River. Now on display at the Art Institute of Chicago, Seurat’s painting freezes the curious figures of the then-modern French society “in their essential traits… organized by harmonies of color,” much like the tableaus found in ancient Greek and Egyptian art (Art Institute of Chicago).
Seurat, G. (1884). A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884 [Painting]. The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, United States. https://www.artic.edu/artworks/27992/a-sunday-on-la-grande-jatte-1884/.
One hundred years later, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Sunday in the Park with George (1984) re-animated the scene — this time, on Broadway. In the musical, Sondheim and Lapine imagine Georges Seurat’s world as he composes the famous painting and bring life to each of the subjects he immortalized on canvas. In the act one closer, “Sunday,” Georges (George in the musical) places the finishing touches on his seminal work A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884), guiding each of the cast to their exact spots in the painting.
In the lyrics, Stephen Sondheim highlights what makes Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte work: “order, design, tension, balance, harmony” (1984). He goes on to describe the stunning details of the painting: “the blue, purple-yellow-red water”; “the cool blue triangular water”; “the soft, green elliptical grass”; “the verticals of trees”; and “the green, orange-violet mass” (Sondheim, 1984). While more beautifully written in his signature prose, Sondheim essentially outlines what visual artists call the elements of art and principles of design. Seurat’s work provides an excellent model to explore these concepts.
What are the Elements of Art?
Artists use the 6 elements of art – line, shape, color, texture, space, and perspective – to convey a message visually.
Line: Lines create movement and guide the reader’s eye across the page.
Shape: A shape is a two-dimensional enclosed area. Shapes can be geometric (hard edge) or organic (soft edge).
Color: Color is the perception of light reflected from the surface of a shape or form. Artists use color to convey mood, emotion, and tone.
Texture: Texture is the surface quality of an object that we can sense through touch. Texture can be tactile, like in sculpture, or visual, like in paintings.
Space: Space is the distances and areas around, between, and within components of a design.
Perspective: Perspective is the point-of-view of the composition, created by the framing and use of scale.
Let’s explore using Seurat.
LINE
Lines create movement and guide the reader’s eye across the page. In A Sunday Afternoon, the horizon, coast, trees, and shadows create lines across the landscape to direct the audience.
SHAPE
A shape is a two-dimensional enclosed area. Shapes can be geometric (hard edge) or organic (soft edge). While his pointillist technique prevents any true hard edges, Seurat creates and organizes his subjects using basic geometric shapes like rounded rectangles and triangles. The trees, by comparison, have a more amorphous, organic shape.
COLOR
Color is the perception of light reflected from the surface of a shape or form. Artists use color to convey mood, emotion, and tone. Seurat uses thousands of delicate dots of various colors to create his scenes — a technique called pointillism. The dominant colors in A Sunday Afternoon are shades of blue, green, orange, purple, and cream.
TEXTURE
Texture is the surface quality of an object that we can sense through touch. Texture can be tactile, like in sculpture, or visual, like in paintings. Seurat’s pointillist technique creates a unique, soft texture.
SPACE
Space is the distances and areas around, between, and within components of a design. Seurat provides ample room between each grouping of subjects to isolate each scene.
PERSPECTIVE
Perspective is the point-of-view of the composition, created by the framing and use of scale. A Sunday Afternoon frames the scene from the edge of the park, as if the viewer has just arrived or is an outsider looking in. The staging of “Sunday” in Sunday in the Park with George makes this perspective much more literal.
What are the Principles of Design?
The principles of design describe the ways that an artist uses the elements of art in a work of art. The 6 principles of design are balance, emphasis, movement, pattern, proportion, and unity.
Balance: The distribution of objects, colors, texture, and space. There are three types of balance: asymmetrical, symmetrical, and radial.
Emphasis: Emphasis is the part of the design that catches the viewer’s attention. Emphasis is created by contrasting an element with other elements. Contrast is the juxtaposition of visually dissimilar elements in order to convey the fact that these elements are different.
Movement: Movement is the path the viewer’s eye takes through the work of art or design. Movement can guide the viewer to focal areas or create the look or feeling of action.
Pattern: Pattern is the repeating of an element all over the work of art. Repetition works with pattern to make the work of art seem active.
Proportion: Proportion is the relative size and scale of the various elements within a design.
Unity: Unity is the feeling of harmony between all parts of the design which creates a sense of completeness.
Let’s explore using Seurat.
BALANCE
The distribution of objects, colors, texture, and space. There are three types of balance: asymmetrical, symmetrical, and radial. Seurat creates symmetrical balance, with one half of the composition in the sunlight and the other in shade.
EMPHASIS
Emphasis is the part of the design that catches the viewer’s attention. Emphasis is created by contrasting an element with other elements. Contrast is the juxtaposition of visually dissimilar elements in order to convey the fact that these elements are different. In A Sunday Afternoon, Seurat emphasizes two pairs of parkgoers with parasols — a little girl with her mother and a young woman with her male suitor — using several techniques. First, he provides both pairs prime real estate in the painting; the little girl and her mother are centered in the frame, with another seated park guest glancing upon them, and the young woman with her suitor are placed in the foreground, taking up the largest amount of vertical space. Then, he creates contrast between the two pairs using apparel. The little girl dons a simple white sundress — the only white dress in the scene — and her mother wears sherbet-orange. By comparison, the other highlighted young woman wears a modest deep purple and black dress, while her suitor is dressed in a purple coat. Finally, Seurat contrasts their directions in the painting; the young girl and her mother are face the viewer — again, the only two to do so — while the other couples stares steadfast at the water.
MOVEMENT
Movement is the path the viewer’s eye takes through the work of art or design. Movement can guide the viewer to focal areas or create the look or feeling of action. Subjects in motion, such as the small dog in the foreground and prancing girl in the background, establish action in the scene. Moreover, the lines created by the shadows and coast guide the eye across the page.
PATTERN
Pattern is the repeating of an element all over the work of art. Repetition works with pattern to make the work of art seem active. Seurat repeats the triangular grouping of subjects, parasols, and the burnt orange color across the composition.
PROPORTION
Proportion is the relative size and scale of the various elements within a design. In A Sunday Afternoon, Seurat demonstrates distance and depth of field with subjects painted at different sizes.
UNITY
Unity is the feeling of harmony between all parts of the design which creates a sense of completeness. This feeling is encompassed in the song “Sunday” from Sunday in the Park with George, which calls out the “harmony” of the painting in its lyrics.
References
Foote, M.C. (2024). Design Fundamentals: Elements & Principles. University of California Berkeley Library. https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/design.
Genius. (n.d.). Sunday. https://genius.com/Mandy-patinkin-and-sunday-in-the-park-with-george-ensemble-sunday-lyrics.
Henderson, C. (2012). Sunday - from Sunday in the Park With George [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/YsHflVxyGKQ?si=X2kMkJ-EWF-x083Q&t=61
Seurat, G. (1884). A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884 [Painting]. The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, United States. https://www.artic.edu/artworks/27992/a-sunday-on-la-grande-jatte-1884/.
Sondheim, S. (1984). “Sunday” [Song]. In Sunday in the Park with George (Original Broadway Cast Recording). Masterworks Broadway.