Oil Sketch for "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884"
1884
Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
15.5 × 24.3 cm (6 1/8 × 9 9/16 in.); Framed: 25.4 × 35.6 cm (10 × 14 in.)
Classification
painting
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
61616
Art Historical Context
This oil sketch by Georges Seurat captures the artist’s early planning for his monumental masterpiece, *A Sunday on La Grande Jatte—1884*. Created in 1884, the small panel reveals Seurat’s meticulous approach to composition as he mapped out the bustling Parisian park scene that would later define Neo-Impressionism. Though modest in scale, the work already hints at the ordered geometry and modern leisure themes that would distinguish the final canvas. Seurat’s innovative technique, later known as pointillism, is visible here in its formative stage. Working in oil on panel allowed him to experi...
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...