Study for "La Grande Jatte"
1884/1885
Medium
oil on wood
Dimensions
overall: 15.9 x 25 cm (6 1/4 x 9 13/16 in.) framed: 33.3 x 41.9 x 5.7 cm (13 1/8 x 16 1/2 x 2 1/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CF
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection
Accession Number
1970.17.81
Art Historical Context
Georges Seurat's *Study for "La Grandeatte"* (1884/1885) is a captivating preparatory oil sketch on wood, measuring just 15.9 x 25 cm. Created as part of the artist's exhaustive process for his monumental masterpiece *A Sunday Afternoon on the of La Grande Jatte—now iconic at the Art Institute of Chicago—this small panel captures a slice of Parisian leisure along the Seine. Seurat, a pioneer of Pointillism (or Divisionism), meticulously planned his compositions through numerous studies like this one, blending scientific color theory with artistic innovation. In this work, Seurat experiments w...
About the Artist
Georges Seurat · 1859–1891
Georges Seurat (1859-1891) was the founder of Neo-Impressionism and the inventor of Pointillism, a revolutionary technique that transformed how artists understand and apply color. In a tragically brief career cut short at age 31, Seurat produced only seven monumental paintings, yet his systematic application of color theory fundamentally altered the direction of modern art. Born in Paris to a pro...