Sunday in the Park with...

Max eats macarons, watercolor

After seeing the extraordinary exhibit at MOMA of Georges Seurat's drawings there was no question. I had to see the new revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s “Sunday in the Park With George". We were lucky to snag seats on the last row of Studio 54, but seeing in that small theater was no problem

At the exhibit there were 4 handheld sketchbooks. You could turn the pages and get an idea of how Seurat saw things and then captured them on paper. Quite a number of dogs fill those pages. You can turn the pages online if you visit here.

     Beagles prefer macarons, watercolor,

Painting a piece of cake is much easier than painting a dog. I love the way Seurat captured the dog's livliness and animation with such simplicity. I admire even more so his skills after my attempts.

 He made study after study of the individual elements for his masterpiece, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, before he brought them together in perfect harmony.

 In the final painting they are all so well integrated, like pieces of a puzzle locked together in a moment of afternoon sun.

 The dogs add animation and wit to the grand gesture of the painting.

 Photo by Sara Kulwich for the New York Times
British director Sam Buntrock (formerly an animater) uses 21st-century technology to convey 19th-century Pointillist Seurat's vision. These two blank canvases are animated with drawings of scampering dogs that jump and leap and come alive as they do inherently in the painting.

 The finished Seurat work - which you understand much better after seeing the play.

 Photo by Sara Kulwich for the New York Times
The grand finale of the play bursts forth with light, warmth and energy. A painting brought to life!

 There's a grand finale at Studio PB, since my new hounds of Baskerville have arrived.