Painting Analysis: "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Grand Jatte" by Georges Seurat
The 'Ile de la Grande Jatte' translates as 'Big Bowl Island' and the immense work by Georges Seurat perfectly depicts it's character. The island itself is a mile long and located on the Seine in the Neuilly-sur-Seine department of Paris and represented a high class get away for the Parisian community.
In its remote location Seurat was able to capture an interesting glimpse of wealthy Parisian life in the 19th century. The painting sparked numerous interpretations and was criticized for being too mathematical. Upon its exhibition however, it was mostly heralded as a grand work of meticulous proportions.
Seurat's style of painting broadly diverged from his school and upon leaving it he decided to travel to the Island of La Grande Jatte. It was here that he was to find the inspiration for his landmark work of art and cement his reputation as an artist forever.
The planning and cast of Grande Jatte was notoriously as complex as the work itself and Seurat went through many sketched drafts before he arrived on the final plan for the painted piece. The cast comprised three dogs, eight boats and 48 people as they congregated for a Sunday afternoon in the sunny park.
Seurat's work included a wide range of characters including; boaters, soldiers, the young and old and people of varying classes of dress. The planning stage of Seurat's masterpiece involved 28 drawings, 28 panels and three larger canvases. Some sections of his work required extra care and attention to detail and had specific pre-planning studies, such as the seated women in the foreground.
Seurat started his project in May of 1884 and intended it to be exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants of 1885 but the exhibition was cancelled. The change in plans meant that Seurat went back to add details to the work and these mainly consisted of his most recent thoughts on color and its use in paintings. Seurat also changed the shapes of some of his figures in order to create more sinuous rhythms.
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte Story was eventually exhibited in the eighth Impressionist exhibition of May 1886.
Where exactly Seurat painted Grande Jatte is a subject of much discussion since its completion. The picturesque content of the piece has also been brought into the question because it is painted at a spot on the island which doesn't incorporate any of the increasingly apparent industry that had begun appearing on the island.
Despite the island of La Grande Jatte looking a great deal different to how it once did, Seurat's effort is perhaps the most similar to how it looks today. The banks of the river Seine are considerably steeper than in Seurat's day but one spot is convincingly similar to his Grande Jatte.
Source: artble.com
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