Study for 'La Grande Jatte'
- Artist: Georges Seurat
- Date: 1884-5
- Medium: oil on wood
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is the Study for 'La Grande Jatte' by Georges Seurat. Painted in 1884-5, it's a study that focuses on one of the figures from the final painting, Sunday on La Grande Jatte.
You see this man standing rigidly to his right, reduced to his essential outline with no incidental detail. He looks straight ahead at the river, just like many of the other people in the Grande Jatte. His black top hat, long grey jacket or coat, and dark trousers identify him as a member of the middle or upper classes, perhaps even a dandy.
Seurat had already included this man in an earlier oil sketch, and he appears in the final painting alongside an elegantly dressed woman. In this study, he's shown holding what might be a walking cane or a furled umbrella, and possibly a folded blanket or groundsheet.
The background is quite simple, with just a few less-defined people visible. The landscape often functions as a stage set in these figure studies, allowing Seurat to experiment with the scale and position of his subjects.
See it in person
Study for 'La Grande Jatte' hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
