When one looks at the Pointillism that Seurat invented and marvels at the precision of thousands upon thousands of tiny dots of color -all created by one human hand! - it is mind-boggling to consider that he produced dozens of such labor-intensive canvases in the span of less than 10 years (and each only after many preliminary studies). Did he sleep, ever? Was he so obsessed with technique that he became exhausted, and an early death was the only logical option left open to him?
The model here in Les Poseuses (if we are, indeed seeing one model in three poses, and not three women posing together) seems to be going through an after-bath sequence of drying herself and dressing. We've no idea, though, why she is doing so in front of a portion of Seurat's gigantic canvas A Sunday on La Grande Jatte -1884 (1884-86) - in which, it must be duly noted, all of the park-goers are respectably clothed.
This painting is hung with Jan Breughel the Younger's The Five Senses: Sight (1625) and Pablo Picasso's Quatre Baigneuses (1921) in the exhibition Double Take: From Monet to Lichtenstein. Points to ponder: all three paintings have been executed with meticulous restraint and, quite obviously, contain central nude figures (though these are found in three very different settings, to three ends of various degrees of mystery).
About the Exhibition:
"Double Take: From Monet to Lichtenstein" is on view from April 8 through September 24, 2006 at the Experience Music Project, 325 5th Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98109 (on the Seattle Center Campus; Telephone 206.367.5483 or 1.877.367.5483). The EMP is open Monday through Thursday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and Friday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Extended summer hours (effective Memorial Day weekend until Labor Day weekend) are 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM every day. "Double Take: From Monet to Lichtenstein" is a ticketed exhibition. Information on pricing and online purchasing of tickets is available here.
The model here in Les Poseuses (if we are, indeed seeing one model in three poses, and not three women posing together) seems to be going through an after-bath sequence of drying herself and dressing. We've no idea, though, why she is doing so in front of a portion of Seurat's gigantic canvas A Sunday on La Grande Jatte -1884 (1884-86) - in which, it must be duly noted, all of the park-goers are respectably clothed.
This painting is hung with Jan Breughel the Younger's The Five Senses: Sight (1625) and Pablo Picasso's Quatre Baigneuses (1921) in the exhibition Double Take: From Monet to Lichtenstein. Points to ponder: all three paintings have been executed with meticulous restraint and, quite obviously, contain central nude figures (though these are found in three very different settings, to three ends of various degrees of mystery).
About the Exhibition:
"Double Take: From Monet to Lichtenstein" is on view from April 8 through September 24, 2006 at the Experience Music Project, 325 5th Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98109 (on the Seattle Center Campus; Telephone 206.367.5483 or 1.877.367.5483). The EMP is open Monday through Thursday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and Friday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Extended summer hours (effective Memorial Day weekend until Labor Day weekend) are 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM every day. "Double Take: From Monet to Lichtenstein" is a ticketed exhibition. Information on pricing and online purchasing of tickets is available here.