Learn about Pointillism and its relationship to the music of the time.

1. Pointillism Seeing the big picture RSNO Maestro Music 2011

2. Intended Learning In this presentation, we will learn about the term pointillism as it applies in art By examining a painting by Georges Seurat and a piece of music by Arnold Schoenberg, we will compare the concept of pointillism in art to the concept of pointillism in music We will also learn how the visual concept of pointillism has been used in other artistic contexts We will then investigate further connections between various ideas in art and music 2 Copyright RSNO Education and Community Partnerships unless otherwise stated.

3. What is the point? In this presentation we will be exploring the style of pointillism in both art and music In art, pointillismis a post-impressioniststyle of painting that was developed by Georges Seurat (1859 – 1891) and Paul Signac (1863 – 1935) Instead of blending colours on the palette, a pointillist artist uses a brush to apply many dots of different colours next to each other Artists mostly used oil paint because its thick texture and tendency not to run or bleed on the canvas 3 Copyright RSNO Education and Community Partnerships unless otherwise stated.

4. What is the point? When we see a pointillist painting, our eyes and mind work to blend the colours together and we see a three-dimensional image with a full range of blended colours Colours can seem brighter and more luminous than in a typical painting One of the most famous examples of pointillism is Un dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte (‘A SundayAfternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte’) by Georges Seurat. The painting isapproximately 2 by 3 metres, and ittook Seurat twoyears to paintit! 4 Copyright RSNO Education and Community Partnerships unless otherwise stated.

5. Georges Seurat: Un dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte 5 Image source: http://www.canvasreplicas.com/images/Sunday%20Afternoon%20on%20the%20Island%20of%20La%20Grande%20Jatte.jpg Copyright RSNO Education and Community Partnerships unless otherwise stated.

6. Points of Comparison In music, pointillism is a composition technique used in 20th century music This technique, also known as Klangfarbenmelodie (‘sound-colour-melody’), was mainly used by Anton Webern (1883 – 1945) and by Arnold Schoenberg (1874 – 1951), and was further developed for electronic music by Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928 – 2007) in the 1950s 6 Copyright RSNO Education and Community Partnerships unless otherwise stated.

7. Points of comparison As you may know, the term colour can be used in music as well as in art. In music, colour refers to the unique sound a particular instrument makes. Just like pointillist painters played with the combination of visual colours, pointillist composers played with the combination of aural colours In pointillist music the composer has many different instruments play single notes, and the unique colours of the different instruments combine to form a melody As in a pointillist painting, the colours of the different instruments seem to be enhanced by the way they are placed together 7 Copyright RSNO Education and Community Partnerships unless otherwise stated.

8. Pointillism is the art of combination: the artist uses many small things to create a big picture. But at the same time the artist is highlighting all of the details and colours contained within that big picture. So you can appreciate the big picture and the details at the same time. Seurat painted over 3 million coloured dots to create La Grande Jatte. Look at all the different colours in this detail of the painting: Now look again at the full picture – do you see it differently? 8 Image source: http://www.viewfinderscameraclub.org.uk/Digital/ImageSizing/ImageSizing_microdetail-01.jpg Copyright RSNO Education and Community Partnerships unless otherwise stated.

9. Points of Comparison Listening Exercise Look up Five Pieces for Orchestra by Arnold Schoenberg. Find No3, which is called ‘Farben’ ‘Farben’ means colours in German You will be able to hear many different instrumental colours in this music Listen to the first 15 seconds of the piece Can you hear the colours of all the different instruments in the orchestra? Now listen to a whole minute of the piece Can you hear how Schoenberg has formed a melody out of many different notes? 9 Copyright RSNO Education and Community Partnerships unless otherwise stated.

11. A printer will layer tiny dots of these four colours onto a white background in the order they’re abbreviated, and the particular patterns and combinations of dots are what make the overall image.

14. One method that’s become quite popular is a photomosaic, where artists use many photographs to make up one big photograph

15. Look at this photomosaic created by Adam Finkelstein and Sandy Farrier. It uses images of Marilyn Monroe to create an image of John F. Kennedy12 Copyright RSNO Education and Community Partnerships unless otherwise stated.

16. Points of Departure 13 Image source: http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~af/cool/jfk-mm.html Copyright RSNO Education and Community Partnerships unless otherwise stated.

17. Points of Departure Since this work was created in 1993, photomosaics have become more detailed and sophisticated Now there are even computer programs that will help you create your own! 14 Copyright RSNO Education and Community Partnerships unless otherwise stated.

18. Points to Consider Pointillist art was created more than twenty years before pointillist music, but composers chose to borrow the term pointillistto describe their music because they felt it was a very similar concept. There are many other ‘-isms’ in music and art that share a name like this, such as romanticism and impressionism. Can you think of any more? Why do you think they fall under the same term? Compare the terms in art and music: How are they similar or different? When did they take place in history? How might they have influenced each other? 15 Copyright RSNO Education and Community Partnerships unless otherwise stated.

19. Points to Consider There are many terms like colourthat are used in both art and music. Here are some more examples: Texture Composition Brightness and Darkness Rhythm Line Form Why do you think there are so many words like this? What do these terms mean in art? Do you know what they mean in music? Do they have a similar meaning in each context? 16 Copyright RSNO Education and Community Partnerships unless otherwise stated.

20. Points to Consider Like other post-impressionist painters, Seurat and Signac developed their technique in reaction to impressionism How is pointillism similar to impressionism? How is it different? Post-impressionism is one of many movements in art that react to a previous movement: for instance, neo-classicism was a reaction to classicism Why do you think artists ‘react’ to previous artists’ work in this way? Is it better to build on past concepts, or try to do something completely different? Schoenberg was a painter himself! Look up his paintings – are they at all similar to his music? How? 17 Copyright RSNO Education and Community Partnerships unless otherwise stated.

21. Experiences and Outcomes I can analyse art and design techniques, processes and concepts, make informed judgements and express considered opinions on my own and others’ work [EXA 4-07a] 18 Copyright RSNO Education and Community Partnerships unless otherwise stated.