Trees (study for La Grande Jatte)
1884
Medium
Black Conté crayon, on white laid paper, laid down on cream board
Dimensions
62 × 47.5 cm (24 7/16 × 18 3/4 in.)
Classification
conté crayon
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
154022
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Trees is one of 40 studies Georges Seurat did for his masterpiece, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, 1884. With these studies, the artist refined the individual elements of his composition so that together they would form a harmonious whole. Here he focused on the trees near the riverbank, using the rich tones of the conté crayon and the grainy paper surface to approximate the appearance of his paintings. In the final painting, Seurat combined the tree in the foreground and the one leaning out over t...
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...