Théo van Rysselberghe was a Belgian painter active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is generally considered a Neo-Impressionist or Post-Impressionist. He was classically trained and throughout his career explored a variety of styles and influences but focused primarily on Divisionism (AKA Pointillism).

Divisionism is a style associated with the French painter Georges Seurat who is credited with its inception. It involves complex surfaces of color in the form of small dots, meant to blend in the eye (which seems to me the broken color and optical blending effects of Monet taken to their extreme).

Van Rysselberghe took the influence of Seurat and Signac and ran with it, but in a different direction. Instead of dissolving his figures, interiors and landscapes into a haze of broken color, he applies that technique to a more traditional, academic structure and refinement resulting in a different level of visual effect.

In the process of researching Van Rysselberghe, I came across this episode of The Undraped Artist Podcast with Jeff Hein and Micah Christensen. Their insightful discussion, and particularly Christensen’s admiration for Van Rysselberghe, increased my appreciation for his skill and accomplishments.