Pointillism

Lore & Background

The technique relies on the viewer's eye and mind blending color spots into a fuller range of tones. It is related to Divisionism, a more technical variant concerned with color theory, whereas pointillism focuses on the specific brushwork style.

Reader's Guide

Pointillism contrasts with traditional methods of blending pigments on a palette. It is analogous to the four-color CMYK printing process and the RGB technique used in televisions and monitors. Pointillist colors often seem brighter than typical mixed subtractive colors, partly because subtractive mixing is avoided and white canvas may show between dots. The technique is at the expense of traditional brushwork for texture. Most pointillism is done in oil paint, preferred for its thickness and tendency not to run. The movement has few serious practitioners today, notably seen in works by Seurat, Signac, and Cross. Pointillism also refers to a 20th-century music composition style, with notes made in seclusion rather than linear sequence, giving a sound texture similar to the painting version.

Did You Know?

• The term 'Pointillism' was coined by art critics in the late 1880s to ridicule the works of Seurat and Signac.
• Pointillism is analogous to the four-color CMYK printing process used by some color printers.
• Pointillism also refers to a style of 20th-century music composition, also known as punctualism or klangfarbenmelodie.