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Oil Sketch for "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884"

Heavy daubs of pigment form a crowded scene of roughly defined, finely dressed individuals in a brightly color park along a riverbank.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • Heavy daubs of pigment form a crowded scene of roughly defined, finely dressed individuals in a brightly color park along a riverbank.

Date:

1884

Artist:

Georges Seurat
French, 1859-1891

About this artwork

This small oil on thin wood panel is one of over 20 painted studies Georges Seurat made for A Sunday on La Grande Jatte—1884 . Although at first glance its composition seems similar to the finished canvas, its 20 or more figures have little to do with the final version. The trio at right with an elderly seated figure, for example, was completely rethought in the completed work, where they are replaced by a man in a top hat and a woman walking a monkey on a leash. This ironic combination of grand solemnity and wry humor is totally absent from the sketch’s awkwardly positioned figures.

Status

On View, Gallery 240

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist

Georges Seurat

Title

Oil Sketch for "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884"

Place

France (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1884

Medium

Oil on panel

Dimensions

15.5 × 24.3 cm (6 1/8 × 9 9/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mary and Leigh Block

Reference Number

1981.15

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/61616/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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