Pointillism 101: Everything You Need to Know

Have you seen a painting where the subject and its patterns are made of small, distinct dots? That work of art is called pointliism. The beauty of Pointillism is it takes advantage of how our eyes work with our brains. Instead of seeing individual colorful dots, our eyes and brain work together in blending those colorful dots into multiple colors than then form an image.

Key characteristics of Pointillism

Unlike most art movements, Pointillism has nothing to do with the painting's subject matter. It is, after all, a technique of applying paint on canvas. Touching on the science of optics, a Pointillism artwork is made up entirely of small, tiny dots forming an image. Small tiny dots, when placed closely with one another, blur into an image to the eye. ​Pointillism works pretty much the same as pixels on a computer screen. 

​Pointillism also reached its peak during the 1880s and 1890s right after the Impressionist movement. Impressionists used small dabs of paint as part of their technique while Pointillism took it to a different level by using only small tiny dots in making an image. 

Georges Seurat, the founder of Pointillism

Georges Seurat studied the science of colors and optics in coming up with this technique. Before the name Pointillism, Seurat referred to the technique as Divisionism. According to him, the smaller the colored dots, the clearer the painting and the sharper the lines become. In many ways, Pointillism is as much as science as it is a form of art. Quite interestingly, did you know that Vincent van Gogh also experimented with Pointillism as evidenced in his 1887 self portrait?

Known Pointillism Artists

When Georges Seurat died, it was Paul Signac who later on became known as the other founding father of Pointillism. He continued to work with Pointillism and left a huge mark and legacy of artwork incorporating the technique. Below are some of his known artworks.

From left to right: The Pine Tree (1909), The Papal Palace, Avignon (1900) and Femmes au puits (1892)

Another notable Pointillism artist is Charles Angrand. He experimented with the technique by using fine, small dots of paint as well as larger dabs to achieve a rougher texture. Check out some of his famous artworks below. 

Learn Pointillism and other art techniques at Art Smart

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Photo sources:
https://www.tes.com/lessons/K978RHmqVNnoYQ/pointillism
Wikipedia Commons
Art Cyclopedia