The Circus Seurat Analysis

Georges Seurat's painting, The Circus, was created in 1891. This painting was done in the medium oil on canvas in the style of Pointillism. When looking at Seurat's painting, you are shown a small scene of a circus from the perspective of a circus performer. At first glance, you first see a jester then you are quickly drawn to the focal point, a dancer on top of a white horse. This painting was left unfinished due to the artist's death. Georges Seurat's The Circus is composed of a variety of implied lines, color, and depth that unify the overall piece.
In his painting, The Circus, Seurat uses different forms of lines to emphasize the different parts of the circus. Regular lines were used to show the structure of the circus tent showing the different sections of the bleachers by using different thicknesses for each line, these lines communicated calmness across the painting. Irregular lines were used to give the circus performers and the audience definition. The director's whip is used as a directional line to change out focus from the right side of the painting to the center. Seurat mainly used implied lines created by the painting method, Pointillism, by painting using dots. Actual lines were only used to create outlines of shapes.
Seurat mainly used
The objects and people closest to the bottom of the painting are shown larger to show they are closer. The perspective of this painting is not from the audience, but from one of the circus members. Seurat places only one figure in the foreground in the very center. Where the viewer's focus is drawn is to the middle-ground where the main figures reside. Seurat placed the more prominent objects in this area such as, the horse and two circus performers. In the background, Seurat placed the least important figures, the audience. Which causes you to focus less on the background and more on the