Georges Seurat

To me, Seurat's work is one of a kind and his use of texture really sets his work apart from other artists. For example, in the piece above, Seurat does not create a texture with the crayon, but rather, works with the texture of the paper to create an abstract/distorted type feel to the portrait. To me, this piece represents the concept of concentration. Although the subject is Seurat's mother, the focus does not necessarily seem to be on the IDEA that the subject is his mother, but rather the action she is portraying (silent concentration). The piece is more focused on the action of his mother through the distortion and lack of detail in the face. This is significant to the modern world, because it is portraying the idea that (from a modern stance) we have lost the concept of concentration and silence through technology, music, social media, and the idea of consistently having to do things. There is no time to sit down in silence and relax. The usage of the crayon and black and white tones also conveys this, because when we think of black and white, we think of darkness or things fading away (color fading to black). The piece presents the idea that humanity has technologically evolved to such a powerful extent, that there no longer is time for quiet concentration to do things that you enjoy (in the piece, the subject is/seems to be knitting - a hobby of some sort). This brings up the question of How did this happen? What can we change? How can we change our mindsets? Where do the limits start and end? 

Image derived from:Seurat, Georges. The Artist's Mother. 1882-83. Conté crayon on paper. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York. Web. 18 Sep 2013. <http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/55.21.1>.