Charles Blanc further developed Chevreul’s theories. Having come to the conclusion that placing complementary colors next to each other intensifies them and that mixing complementary colors together muddies the color, he is known to have said that complementary colors “will either triumphantly sustain or utterly destroy each other.” Looking at A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, we can see evidence of these complementary color theories. The seated girl with the ponytail in the middle of the painting is wearing a dark blue coat. Upon closer examination, we can see that Seurat mixed in some lighter blue and some orange, its complement, to intensify the main dark blue color. Examples of this can be found throughout this painting,
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He wrote an article entitled Phenomena of Vision, in which he included comments on the rhythm and harmony of Greek and Roman art. He also had some ideas on color, one of which is known as irradiation. This refers to the slight glow of lighter color that Seurat often put around dark shapes. A good example of this can be found in A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte—right next to the edge of the blue dress that the woman standing to the right is wearing, lighter colors have been applied to set off the blue and provide more contrast. In his essay, Sutter also often referred to Greek and Roman art in relation to achieving harmony. In reference to A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte and the Classical friezes of the Parthenon, Georges Seurat said, “I want to make the moderns pass by as in that frieze, capturing their essential qualities by placing them on canvases arranged in color harmonies” . Seurat was often interested in creating harmony through the placement of his figures and colors. He put it this way: “Harmony is the analogy of contrary and of similar elements of tone, of color, and of line, conditioned by the dominant key, and under the influence of a particular light, in gay, calm, and sad combinations” . These harmonies, which would result in the creation of emotion, would be important to Seurat’s study of Charles Henry’s
He wrote an article entitled Phenomena of Vision, in which he included comments on the rhythm and harmony of Greek and Roman art. He also had some ideas on color, one of which is known as irradiation. This refers to the slight glow of lighter color that Seurat often put around dark shapes. A good example of this can be found in A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte—right next to the edge of the blue dress that the woman standing to the right is wearing, lighter colors have been applied to set off the blue and provide more contrast. In his essay, Sutter also often referred to Greek and Roman art in relation to achieving harmony. In reference to A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte and the Classical friezes of the Parthenon, Georges Seurat said, “I want to make the moderns pass by as in that frieze, capturing their essential qualities by placing them on canvases arranged in color harmonies” . Seurat was often interested in creating harmony through the placement of his figures and colors. He put it this way: “Harmony is the analogy of contrary and of similar elements of tone, of color, and of line, conditioned by the dominant key, and under the influence of a particular light, in gay, calm, and sad combinations” . These harmonies, which would result in the creation of emotion, would be important to Seurat’s study of Charles Henry’s