Seurat and the Avant-Garde

Georges Seurat, one of the most popular and admired of post-Impressionist painters, has been the focus of much attention in recent years. This book by Paul Smith views the artist in a new context and explodes some of the myths that have grown up about him.

Library Journal

Smith (art history, Univ. of Bristol) argues here that Seurat's works can be seen both ideologically and aesthetically and that the "meaning" will therefore depend on the point of view. He thoroughly reviews Seurat's enterprise, drawing heavily on contemporary theory and criticism. He presents informed discussions on color theory, line, subject-matter, art movements, and politics, and he elucidates the visionary aesthetics based on Richard Wagner in the making of Seurat's paintings and the role of ideas therein. The ideas are complex and, as with much contextual art history, demand much prior knowledge on the part of the reader; but the book is well organized and the writing is clear. For advanced and specialized collections. Curator Leighton and scholar Thomson offer the catalog of a single-painting exhibition at London's National Gallery. Again, it is very clearly written, with background on Seurat's work leading up to his 1884 masterpiece, "Bather at Asnires"; detailed exposition on the technical aspects of the painting; and an accessible discussion of the artistic context for the workincluding informative illustrations and comparisons with contemporary bather subject pictures. Narrower in focus than Smith's book, but aimed at a broader audience, Seurat and the Bathers succeeds on both the popular and the scholarly level and is recommended for all collections.Jack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Lib.