RICHARD MURGATROYD enjoys a readable account of the life and meditations of one of the few Roman emperors with a good reputation
Georges Seurat: The Bathers at Asnieres and A Sunday on La Grande Jatte
Class-conscious canvases from the artist who introduced scientific principles to painting
PERFECTLY POINTILLIST: (Left) The Bathers at Asnieres (1884) and (right) A Sunday on La Grande Jatte (1886)
ALEX HALL asks whether intelligence, and stupidity, are the outcomes of poverty and wealth, and cultural norms
BRENT CUTLER is persuaded by a new account of the rise of Christianity, and the fall of the Roman empire
If non-human nature is devoid of value under the capitalist mode of production, this book presents the case for its reintegration, suggests HENRY BELL
The Bard takes issue with a BBC portrait of The Balkans, and sets the record straight
ANGUS REID urges you to visit Britain’s most remarkable - and mind-blowing - festival of contemporary music
MARIA DUARTE reviews Desperate Journey, Blue Moon, Pillion, and Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
GEORGES SEURAT’S iconic The Bathers at Asnieres (1884) and its “companion” canvas A Sunday on La Grande Jatte (1886) are probably among the best-known paintings by Impressionists.
But, unlike others, Seurat eschewed spontaneity for a meticulously scientific approach to colour and once memorably said: “Some say they see poetry in my paintings; I only see science.”
Early on, he had met and worked with chemist Michel-Eugene Chevreul, who had noticed that the perception of colour was not about the individual pigment but how the human brain processed adjoining colours.
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