Georges Seurat, Chahut, 1889-90 © Collection Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, the Netherlands.
Neo-Impressionism made its public debut in Paris at the eighth and final Impressionist Exhibition of 1886. A new generation of artists, led by Georges Seurat (1859-1891), aimed to replace Impressionism’s spontaneity and rapid execution with a painstaking technique in which dots of pure colour were placed side by side to maximise luminosity. Harmony was prioritised over the capture of fleeting moments, and objects of the observable world were pared back to their essential forms. Neo-Impressionism’s radical harmony, in combination with its strong allegiance to radical politics, rapidly attracted followers – particularly in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Exhibition curator Julien Domercq explores for ARTscapades how Radical Harmony reflects the vision of one of the early 20th-century’s greatest collectors, Helene Kröller-Müller. The loan of over thirty works that she collected – including Chahut, the last monumental picture that Seurat completed – forming the core of the exhibition, alongside major international loans and paintings from the National Gallery. Organised thematically rather than chronologically or by artist, the Gallery’s first-ever exhibition devoted to the Neo-Impressionist movement engages with themes such as anarchist politics, portraiture, popular entertainment, interiors and interiority and the Neo-Impressionists’ propensity to simplify and distil their scenes – so much so that their pictures sometimes verged on pure abstraction.
Untethering the picture from its dependence on subject matter by increasing the emphasis on colour, light and geometry, Neo-Impressionism did no less than pave the way for ‘modern’ painting.
Radical Harmony: Helene Kröller-Müller’s Neo Impressionists is at the National Gallery from 13 September 2025 to 8 February 2026.
This event will be recorded. Ticket holders are emailed a link to view the recording afterwards which is available for one month. Proceeds from ARTscapades ticket sales benefit museums, galleries and other arts-based organisations and projects.
This is an online event hosted on Zoom which can be watched live with Q&A, or on-demand for one month afterwards. You will receive your link to access the event in your email confirmation and the on-demand link after the event ends.