A Sunday

on…
La Grande
Jatte
1884 by George Seurat
 La Grande Jatte
• Seurat began La Grande Jatte in May
1884
• its preparation involved approximately
28 drawings, 28 panels, and 3 larger
canvases
• Seurat spent two years to finish the
painting
 La Grande Jatte
• La Grande Jatte is a product of Post-
Impressionism
• characteristics from impressionism
that were retained in the painting were
visible brush strokes, open
composition, emphasis on light and
use of ordinary subject matter
 La Grande Jatte

• Seurat used a technique called

Pointillism
• he concentrated on the issues of color,
light, and form
• in creating the picture, Seurat
employed the then-new pigment zinc
yellow (zinc chromate)
 Stage

Seurat used a small section of the island

of Seine as his setting.

The painting was focused on the green

park at the far Northwestern tip of the
Seine, facing the town of Courbevoie.
 CAST
• 3 dogs
• 8 boats
• 48 people
♥ soldiers
♥ boaters
♥ fashionably and casually dressed
♥ old and young
♥ families
♥ couples
♥ single men and women
 PLOT
Unlike the setting, Seurat’s plot is not
readily identifiable. La Grande Jatte
conveys grand solemnity with a wry
sense of humor.
Seurat introduced an element of irony by
suggesting a sense of timelessness
while also insisting on a very up-to-the-
moment awareness of fashion.
 PLOT

While the figures appear to fit seamlessly

within the whole, their exact social
stations and motivations remain open
to speculation and debate.
 Tree Trunks
1859–1891, conté crayon on paper
Seated Woman
with a Parasol

1859–1891, conté
crayon on paper
Soldier (Cadet from Saint-Cyr)
1884, oil on panel
Woman with
a Monkey

1884, oil on panel

Rose-Colored Skirt
1884, oil on panel
Seated and Standing Women
1884, oil on pane
Sketch with Many Figures
1884, oil on pane
Over the past several decades,
many
For scholars
some, havethe
it shows attempted
growing
to explain
Others
middle seethe
class asmeaning
it at of this
a representation
leisure
great composition
of social tensions between
modern city dwellers of different
social
all classesgather in the same
of whom
public space but do not
communicate or interact.