Cafe-Concert and The Singer in GreenThough both Seurat's and Degas' works both appear to be representing similar scenes, both their art styles and mediums used differ greatly. In Café-Concert, Seurat uses conté crayon, a dry media that is “created by mixing chalk with pigment, graphite, and a gum binder (online lesson).” On the other hand, in The Singer in Green by Degas, pastels are used. Also a dry media, they are “created from the combination of finely ground pigments mixed with chalk or clay base and a gum binder (online lesson).” Seurat typically used textured papers to get different effects with conté crayon, while different effects using pastels can be achieved by using different sides of the pastels as well as blending and layering of lines.
Seurat was known for being a big part of the Neo-Impressionist period, full of artists who “came to believe that separate touches of interwoven pigment result in a greater vibrancy of color in the observer's eye than is achieved by the conventional mixing of pigments on the palette (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/seni/hd_seni.htm).” This sentiment, along with his use of textured papers, “allowed him to approximate the effect of pointillism,” which “is a painting technique in which dots of pure color are applied to the canvas where they ultimately "mix" in the eye of the viewer to create a different color (online lesson).” Looking closer at Café-Concert, you can tell that the painting is made up of different dots used to convey the image. In contrast, Degas was “regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism, especially identified with the subject of the dance, and over half of his works depict dancers (http://www.edgar-degas.org/).” Impressionists “often rendered shadows and highlights in color” and “the bright colors of Impressionist canvases were shocking for eyes accustomed to the more sober colors (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/imml/hd_imml.htm).” This is clear to see in The Singer in Green, as bright oranges, blues, and even yellows are conveyed in this work. Where Seurat used the effects of pointillism to convey different shapes and colors in his works, Degas used bright colors and short strokes to make his subject stand out. These ideas are easy to see when looking at Café-Concert and The Singer in Green in comparison. It's always interesting to see how two artists can take extremely similar subject matter and make them completely different. |