Going dotty
The post-impressionist Georges Seurat replaced the heady whirl of light and weather that the impressionists had conjured up with something more stylised and studied: a science of painting dubbed pointillism. Steeped in new theories of optics and colour, he crafted huge canvases using dots of differently hued pigment to create emotive effects.
Mr Normal
Seurat rendered ordinary life with a certain stillness and gravitas. Working-class lads taking a dip after a long day, picnickers in the park and circus performers are among his best-known subjects.
Mysterious girl
Young Woman Powdering Herself from around 1889 is an unusually personal work, though the identity of its subject was kept secret. It depicts the artist’s mistress, Madeleine Knobloch, who was unknown to all but his closest friends.
Real woman
She is a deliciously vital figure, a resplendent study in solid curves with her apple-like breasts echoing her hairdo and powder puff, who contrasts with the flimsy dressing table and mirror.
Included in Courtauld Impressionists: From Manet to Cézanne, The National Gallery, WC2, to 20 January
