European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 09, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Modern Day problems limit Quot _ Seurat retrospective a a. A a a a a a .�1.aa a a a a a. A. A a a. A a v. A -. A a by William Drozdiak the Washington Post. Ever since the idea was conceived five years ago the French Art world has eagerly awaited a giant retrospective on native Neo impressionist Painter Georges Seurat who died at age 31 but still produced work that is revered As  the crucial Bridges Between 19th-Century and modern Art but when the exposition marking the 100th anniversary of Seurat s death opened at the grand palais in Paris last month three of his greatest masterpieces were not on exhibit. Their absence reflects soaring insurance costs and growing reluctance by Many museums to share their most treasured works a. Trends that Many curators believe will doom attempts to assemble definitive shows of the great artists. The Seurat Centenary Marks the first time that insurance fees for a major Art show will exceed transportation costs. Nonetheless the French government seemed willing to spend almost any sum to bring together Seurat s Best work for what is being touted As the artistic highlight of the Paris tourist season. The exhibit will continued through aug. 12.vet Money alone could not tempt the Art Institute of Chicago to part with in Dimanche a la grand Matte one of Seurat s outstanding pointillism displays of Light and Shadow. The painting is considered the Crown  the. Chicago museum which has owned it since 1926. As an aesthetic icon it has inspired a musical comedy sunday. In he Park with George and has served As the Centrepiece for sporting goods advertisements. The Only time1la Grande Matte left Chicago for an exhibition in 1958 at new York s museum of modern Art it barely escaped destruction in a fire. So when Frerich curators broached the possibility of taking custody of the Canvas for a few months they were met with intense apprehension bordering on apoplexy. Quot the Chicago people made a big fuss about it asking us if we would Ever dare to loan out Manet s Olympia for example Quot said Francoise Cache director of the orsay museum and one of t he Organ liners of the French a retrospective Quot it s very sad for us but i can understand the reasons behind their . When the Seurat curators sought a loan of Les pos uses from the Barnes collection in Merion a they encountered a similarly Flat rejection. The Luminous. Portrait of three Young women m various stages of nudity has not budged since 1926 because the private foundation has banned Loans. The third missing masterpiece Une Bai Gnade a Asni Eres is housed in London s National gallery whose directors pleaded that the work would suffer too much if it were transported to Paris. The painting was glued to a Metal plaque in the 1960s and is considered too Brittle to be taken abroad. A. The Seurat exhibition at the grand palais does not hide the omissions. Indeed 10-Fbot scale photographs. Have been installed to remind viewers what they Are missing. Quot we did not want Edmie our misery Quot said a Cachin. Quot those paintings Recife Send three Gigantic voids in the collection that must be noted because the career of Seurat was extremely . A / Quot circus Quot Georges Seurat s last great work is among the paintings in the exhibit. The mounting difficulties of borrowing major works from disparate sources augurs badly for the. Future staging of similar grand exhibitions. Quot the limitations on travel imposed by governments and foundations Are getting so widespread that shows like this May become impossible in the future Quot said Anne Distel another French curator who worked on the Seurat show. Quot this entire exhibition almost fell apart anyway because the Gulf War frightened so Many museums and owners that they considered withdrawing their loaned works Quot / despite those setbacks the exhibit Jan brings together about 100 paintings and As Many sketches by the Paris born artist who broke with the impressionist traditions of his Day and served As an inspirational hero for Vincent Van Gogh and Henri Matisse. Seurat also influenced the cubits and of credited by Art historians with profoundly shaping the evolution toward the abstract. Born into a Bourgeois parisian family on dec. 2, 1859, Seurat was taciturn and discreet All his life. He had few friends and rarely spoke in Public about anything other than his work. Despite his Fame As the Leader of the Avant Garde Art scene in Paris in the late 19th Century Seurat s introverted manner contributed to an Aura of mystery about him. Shortly after his death during a diphtheria epidemic supporters were astonished and saddened to learn that he had an infant son who died Only a few Days later. V the artist had told none of his acquaintances about his a child or his buxom working class mistress whom he painted two years before his death in Young woman powdering herself. In that painting Seurat included his Only known self portrait but when somebody asked about a possible connection Between artist and Model Seurat decided to replace his visage with a still life. As if he were aware that his life Span would be Short Seurat worked with a methodical Diligence exploring All kinds of classical subject matter from n Udes to landscapes he worked almost exclusively for the first few years on his sketching laying the foundations for his scientific experiments in color that would be his greatest contribution to Art his innovation was to recognize that instead of mixing colors say red and Blue to make Violet the artist could place contrasting colors Side by Side in minuscule dots and inject More Light into the Canvas. Mixing paints he believed darkened the Canvas and blurred the dazzling array of nature s fundamental Beauty. By going through the painstaking act of putting a variety of coloured dots on the Canvas Seurat believed the artist would More accurately replicate the blazing interplay of color found in Nat ure. True to his methodical style Seurat carefully applied his theories to All Cater ones of classical painting nudes landscapes and the sea. The Luminous effect was particularly successful in the seascapes he painted during his summer retreats to the Atlantic coast beaches of Honfleur and port in Bessin in France. A amps file 10 stripes Magazine May 9,1991