Professor Butter Beard and Seurat’s “Bathers at Asnières”
“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” – George Seurat
Before “dot, dot, dot,” there came “criss cross, criss cross, criss cross.” A clever environment of criss-crossing hash strokes that diminish in size as they approach the horizon. But I get ahead of myself.
Let me begin with a proper introduction.
When Georges Pierre Seurat began work on “Bathers at Asnières” in 1884, he was a 24-year-old Parisian artist training at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, which had produced many of the finest painters of the age, from Delacroix to Degas.
While attending school, Seurat first encountered Michel Eugène Chevreul’s ideas on color, which had formed the basis of the chemist's treatise “De la loi du contraste simultané des couleurs” (On the Law of Simultaneous Contrast of Colors), published four-and-a-half decades earlier in 1839. Chevreul demonstrated that two complementary colors, when placed side-by-side, enrich each other in the eyes of those who perceive them. Each contrasting color (red/green, blue/orange, yellow/purple) appears more vibrant and distinct than it otherwise would – an elegantly simple revelation that would reverberate across the worlds of science and art.
Seurat, as both an artist and a scientist, began his own experimentation based on Chevreul’s theories with “Bathers.” “Some say they see poetry in my paintings.” he wrote, “where I see only science.”
At first glance, Seurat's colossal canvas (79” x 118”) canvas – much larger than 19th century gallery-goers were accustomed to encountering – is an outsized celebration of the lazy luminosity of the late summer, perfectly capturing the relaxed mood of male workers on a break from nearby factories as they bake in ethereal white-hot sunshine along the banks of the Seine River, northwest of central Paris.
The slope forming most of the left-hand side of the painting was known as the Côte des Ajoux, near the end of the rue des Ajoux, on the north bank of the river. Opposite is the island of la Grande Jatte (of “Sunday in the Park” fame), the east tip of which is shown as the slope and the trees to the right, and which Seurat has chosen to extend beyond its actual length. The Asnières railway bridge and the industrial buildings of Clichy are in the background. These are all locations that 19th century Parisians would recognize and could easily imagine themselves cooling in the river while basking in the same August light.
Seurat set about plotting “Bathers” like a mathematical proof of Chevreul's “law of simultaneous contrast,” writes Kelly Grovier for the BBC. “His fastidiousness is evident in how he positions orange-blushed flesh against blue-green water; how the grass is flecked with yellow-lilac flickers; and how he outlines with cool blue the warm and rosy tones of the boys' skin, intensifying the figures and making them visually throb. In these moments, Seurat succeeds in scrubbing away the artificial social markers of class and status. What remains is the soul of color, shaken through the sieve of Chevreul's theory.”
Seurat dramatically departed from the early Impressionist’s spontaneity and their choice to capture the play of light quickly outdoors, undertaking in his studio more than a dozen oil sketches and nearly as many crayon drawings, convinced “Bathers” would be the masterwork that established his place in the art world. He believed this incredibly personal interpretation of light and color would be the painting that people noticed – the one he could confidently submit to the famously ruthless jury of the influential Parisian Salon, the institution whose stingy regard, if secured, could make or break the career prospects of any aspiring artist.
So, he submitted it. And they rejected it. Publicly.
It was Paul Signac, Seurat’s contemporary Post-Impressionist, who came to the work’s defense. He replied to the Salon, stating that “Bathers” was painted “in great flat strokes, brushed one over the other, fed by a palette composed, like Delacroix’s, of pure and earthy colors. But the understanding of the laws of contrast, the methodical separation of elements—light, shade, local color, and the interaction of colors—as well as their proper balance and proportion gave this canvas its perfect harmony.”
“Perfect Harmony.” That, my friends, is the highest praise. Seurat, Sondheim and I stepped together into the kitchen this morning at daybreak. The heat and humidity of late summer was already seeping its white-hot grasp through the open windows and baking brick walls. I let the painting guide me as I turned the pestle, grinding together the warm spices of August: ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper and lots of lemon. Their found harmony then flavored a butter pound cake bursting with garden-fresh zucchini, pears and toasted hazelnuts. Seurat’s white summer light inspired a crown of powdered sugar, cream, butter and vanilla – an optional addition to your personal interpretation.
“Color is not just pigment on a canvas, but emotions made visible.” - Georges Seurat
Professor Butter Beard’s August Pound Cake
One 9” Loaf Pound Cake
1 cup dried pears, diced and soaked in apple cider overnight
1 medium zucchini, grated and squeezed to remove excess water
¾ cup hazelnuts, roasted and coarsely chopped
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp Prof BB’s August Spice Mix (see below)
1 cup granulated sugar
Zest of one lemon
4 ounces (one stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla paste
2 large eggs, room temperature
½ cup buttermilk
Syrup:
Reserved soaking liquid from the pears
½ cup granulated sugar
Prof BB’s August Spice Mix:
2 Tbsp ginger
1 Tbsp cinnamon
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
½ tsp allspice
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1) The night before baking, dice the dried pears and add enough apple cider to cover the fruit by ½”. When ready to bake, drain the pears reserving the soaking liquid.
2) Spray a 9” loaf pan with baking spray and line with parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
3) Grate the zucchini onto a clean dishtowel. Squeeze out the excess water and set at the ready. Lightly toast the hazelnuts, coarsely chop, and set at the ready.
4) Whisk together the dry mixture: the flour, baking powder, salt and 2 tsp of the spice mix.
5) In a standing mixer, mix together the sugar and zest until evenly combined. Add the butter and cream together for 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and then the eggs, one at a time. On low speed, add 1/3 of the dry, ½ of the buttermilk, 1/3 of the dry, remaining buttermilk, remaining dry. Remove the bowl from the stand and fold in the zucchini, drained pears and hazelnuts. Scrape the batter into the pan and place on the center rack of your oven. Lower the temperature to 325 degrees and bake for 45-50 minutes until a wooden skewer comes out clean.
6) While the loaf is baking, bring the reserved soaking liquid and ½ cup sugar to a simmer. Simmer for five minutes to create a syrup.
7) Remove the loaf from the oven, let cool 15 minutes, then brush the syrup over the loaf. Let the loaf cool completely in the pan before removing to serve.
