Georges Seurat, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, 1884-1886, oil on canvas, Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection, Art Institute of Chicago, illinois
Title: A Sunday on La Grande Latte, 1884-1886
Georges Seurat (1859-1891)
Yesterday, December 2, was the French master Georges Seurat’s 165th birthday! He was only in his mid-twenties when he created the internationally famous A SUNDAY ON LA GRAND JATTE, a process that took him some two years. Today, at the Art Institute of Chicago, Seurat’s masterpiece, measuring almost 7 feet by 12 feet, is considered one of the museum’s treasures.
Numerous books and articles have been written on the painting, plus it inspired a Broadway musical in the 1980s. For instance, A SUNDAY ON LA GRANDE JATTE is an example of the Pointilist style; composed of a mosaic of complementary colors; and populated by 48 figures, 3 dogs, and 1 monkey. However, why don’t we first contemplate this timeless scene, the summation of an endless summer of Sunday afternoons that endure forever.
And if you have a few moments, why not explore the gathering, focusing on the variety of individual humanity (as well ad pets). Like pieces of an extraordinary puzzle, defined by points of color, that Seurat has woven together. Here’s a list of some of the players emerging as we survey the group, starting in the foreground:
the tall, stately couple ;
the capped man smoking a pipe;
the mother and daughter pair walking directly toward us;
the slender woman fishing on the Seine River;
the musician playing a trombone;
a little girl running;
two soldiers strolling together;
a couple embracing;
boaters rowing;
three dogs (two in the foreground and one in the background) and a monkey.
Look too for the butterfly!
For a better view of the work of art, click and then enlarge:
https://www.artic.edu/artworks/27992/a-sunday-on-la-grande-jatte-1884
CCO Public Domain Designation
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