The Fragmented Image: From Seurat to Chuck Close
Joseph Cassar, professor of art, University of Maryland University College and the New York Times Knowledge Network

 The term Pointillism was first used by art critics in 1886 to ridicule works of art by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, but today it is an actual art historical term of how these artists developed a technique branching from Impressionism. The technique relies on the ability of the eye and mind of the viewer to blend the color spots into a range of tones which bring out the totality of the painting. This artistic development did not have many followers because of its slow and fastidious method of precision working with small exacting brush marks, however, it was embraced at some point by many artists including the Cubists, Matisse, and contemporary artists such as Chuck Close. This talk surveys the development of this technique and artistic movement.

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