Georges Seurat 1859-1891 [Hardcover]

Robert L. Herbert (Author), Georges Seurat (Author), N. Y.) Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York (Author), Galeries Nationales Du Grand Palais (France) (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0870996185 | ISBN-13: 978-0870996184 | Publication Date: June 1991

The definitive overview of the work and life of Seurat, the great Neo-impressionist artist.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This extraordinary volume presents a Seurat far more fascinating and complex than the standard image of the coolly scientific dot painter of picnickers and circuses. Cataloguing a large retrospective now at New York's Metropolitan Museum on the centenary of the artist's death, the book gives us a Seurat of many moods and styles. His drawings include powerful naturalistic pictures of laborers, as well as shadowy, mystical portraits and symbolic landscapes suggestive of Odilon Redon. His meditative seascapes suggest a spiritual cleansing, and the solitary figures on dusky streets prefigure the modern age of urban atomization. Seurat mocked commercialized big-city entertainment with his puppetlike figures. His rarely seen female nudes bring impetuosity and freshness to a classic theme. The reproductions are superb. The text, written by Herbert ( Seurat's Drawings ) in collaboration with scholars from the Met and the Musee d'Orsay, Paris, intertwines the life and work of the enormously prolific artist who died at the age of 31.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Never accorded a proper tribute from France, Seurat was the subject of a major retrospective held recently in Paris, then New York, commemorating the centennial of the Neo-Impressionist's death at 31. In collaboration with distinguished staff from the Musee d'Orsay and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seurat scholar Herbert has compiled this extensivie exhibition catalog. Such masterpieces as "La Grande Jatte" are conspicuously absent from the show but given ample coverage here. The grandeur and extent of Seurat's oeuvre are evident in the conte crayon drawings of lonely figures, the serene seascape paintings, and the serio-comical scenes of cafe and circus life. Each of the more than 230 works analyzed includes a history of ownership and exhibitions. The substantial text examines such issues as the science of light and color, pointillism, biographical material, and influences. This work should have permanent value and is strongly recommended.
- Joan Levin, MLS, Chicago
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 450 pages
• Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art (June 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870996185
• ISBN-13: 978-0870996184
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,013,242 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A simply masterful presentation of Seurat's work, March 27, 2003

By 

Carl Eric Devin III "ericdevin" (Kingston, RI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Georges Seurat 1859-1891 (Hardcover)

This beautiful catalog from an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1992 is an excellent anthology of Seurat's work, juxtaposing finished works with sketches, and includes a large selection of sketches as a student. The size allows the works to be displayed in all their glory. If you like Seurat, buy this!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Complete book, March 11, 2011

By 

Kosharek "trkosh" (Jackson, WY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Georges Seurat 1859-1891 (Hardcover)

I purchased this book over Georges Seurat: The Drawings by Jodi Hauptman, Karl Buchberg, Hubert Damisch and Bridget Riley (Nov 1, 2007) because of somebody else's review and am so happy I did. This is a much more complete book - with both a large collection of drawings and paintings and field paintings and studies. Must have for any artist interested in capturing light in drawings and anybody interested in 19th century art (as we all should be!!!)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the ultimate coverage of Seurat's output, March 15, 2010

By 

Ivor E. Zetler (Sydney Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Georges Seurat 1859-1891 (Hardcover)

This would be the best book to cover the life and artistic output of Georges Seurat. This catalog of a major and comprehensive exhibition held in the Metropolitan Museum is written by the Seurat expert Robert Herbert. The book is packed with numerous paintings and drawings by Seurat; the latter are particularly well reproduced and are to be prefered to the more recent MOMA issue covering that subject. This weighty volume is difficult to access but is definitely worth hunting out. The Seurat completist would also need to own John Rewald's book concerning this artist. That volume has far less illustrations which are inferiorly reproduced.