Page 18 - G19C Maastricht Catalog

Georges Seurat

FIELD IN BARBIZON (CHAMPS À BARBIZON)

Georges Seurat’s contribution to the evolution of modern art is
remarkable in that it happened in such a short span of time; Seurat
died at the age of 31 in 1891. The culmination of a preference for
drawing (learned during the short period he attended the École
des Beaux Arts), combined with a scientific interest in color theory
resulted in his greatest achievement, the painting he chose to
include in the last and final Impressionist exhibition in 1886,
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte (Art Institute of Chicago).

After his brief stint at the École des Beaux Arts, Seurat visited
Barbizon. Following in the tradition of his predecessor, Théodore
Rousseau, Seurat would set up his easel in the fields and forest.
He carried a small artist’s paint box that was designed with slats
to hold standard size wood panels, easily transportable and readily
available for painting outdoors.

Painted in 1882, the period of most of Seurat’s plein air studies,
Champs à Barbizon is a vibrant study of the furrowed fields around
Barbizon. Two peasants plow the earth and the surrounding
forest can be seen in the distance and in the foreground of the
composition, where Seurat most likely set up his easel. In his
trademark fashion, Seurat exposes the wood of the panel to create
dimension behind the distant silhouette of the forest. While Seurat’s
pure “pointillist” studies (done primarily for La Grande Jatte) date
two years later, the origins of this style are clearly evident in the
present painting, where the quick, small dashes of juxtaposing
color define the subject matter. While it is known that Seurat was
influenced by Eugène Delacroix’s use of “broken colors,” it is also
evident that the pastel technique of Jean François Millet, with its
quick hatches and lines of color, was clearly on Seurat’s mind when
he painted Champs à Barbizon.

The first owner of Champs à Barbizon was the artist, Paul Signac,
Seurat’s younger friend and direct disciple.

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