Perspectives MetKids Microscope

How Can Art Trick Our Minds? Pointillism and Optics

Oct 20, 2023 2 MINUTES

Instead of mixing paint colors on a palette, what happens if we let our eyes do the mixing? Learn about Pointillism and how the artist Georges Seurat used the science of optics to create a whole new way of painting!

#MetKids Microscope is a show about the science behind the art (and the art behind the science!) at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Learn true stories about real discoveries from scientists at the Museum, and do some experiments on your own!

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Chief Digital Officer: Douglas Hegley
Executive Producer: Sarah Wambold
Director/Writer/Producer: Rachel Smith
Producer: Emma Vecchione
Project Manager: Maria Kozanecka
Animation Direction: Lisa LaBracio
Art Direction: Tara Sunil Thomas
Animation + Compositing: Lisa LaBracio
Narrators: Corin Wells, Charlotte Hale
Episode Consultants: Charlotte Hale, Dita Amory, Laura Corey
Education Consultants: Darcy-Tell Morales, Merantine Hens
Original Music: Austin Fisher
Sound Mix: Dave Raymond
Production Design: Aurola Wedman Alfaro
Rights and Permissions: Julie Zeftel

Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque), ca. 1887-88.
Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris).
Oil on canvas, 39 1/4 x 59 in. (99.7 x 149.9 cm).
Bequest of Stephen C. Clark, 1960 (61.101.17)

Modern chromatics : with applications to art and industry, 1879.
Author Ogden Nicholas Rood (1831–1902).
3 pages, 1 leaf, [v]-viii, [9]-329 pages : color frontispiece, illustrations, diagrams ; Height: 7 7/8 in. (20 cm).
(170.1 R674)

All Images © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

MetKids is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies

© 2023 The Metropolitan Museum of Art

 

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