What Is Pointillism Art

Pointillism is a painting technique

Regia Marinho
3 min readNov 21, 2023

Pointillism is a painting technique that emerged in the late 19th century as a distinctive style within the broader Impressionist movement.

Georges Seurat

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, oil on canvas, 207.6 x 308 cm. 1884–1886.

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, oil on canvas, 207.6 x 308 cm.

This technique involves creating an image by using small, distinct dots or points of color.

The dots are applied in patterns to form an entire picture.

When viewed from a distance, these dots blend together optically, creating the illusion of a broader range of colors and shapes.

VanGogh

Hospital at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, November 1889. Oil on canvas, 58 × 45 cm. Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

The term “Pointillism” was coined by art critics in the late 1880s, and it is closely associated with the work of French painters Georges Seurat and Paul Signac.

The meticulous application of individual dots of color was seen as a departure from the more traditional brushstroke methods.

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Regia Marinho

I publish tech, art, food, AI, AR, architecture, interior design, fashion, and photography articles. Ideas to inspire the world through art. @regiaart