Divisionism

Divisionism is a late nineteenth-century painting technique that consists of applying tiny adjacent strokes or dots of pure colour to the canvas so that they mix optically in the viewer's eye, producing an effect of vibrant, luminous light. The method drew on contemporary scientific theories of colour and perception, including studies of simultaneous contrast. In French Neo-Impressionism this approach was developed by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac and is often identified with Pointillism, though Divisionism stresses the separation of colour according to optical principle rather than the dot technique alone. Its most famous example is Seurat's large canvas A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. A distinct Italian Divisionism also emerged, represented by Giovanni Segantini, Gaetano Previati and Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo, who combined the optical technique with symbolic and social themes. Divisionism was highly influential on later art: its understanding of the autonomy of colour and light fed into Fauvism, Futurism and early abstraction, preparing the ground for the liberation of colour from its descriptive function.