Study for "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte"

This is the final preparatory study for the monumental La Grande Jatte in Chicago. Separate patches precede the finished painting’s denser dots. Seurat called his method of dividing colours Divisionism. The study reveals changes of technique on the way to the large canvas.

A large woman with a dark parasol occupies the right foreground. Her scale establishes that of other visitors along the bank.

A woman beneath a red parasol stands beside a pale child. Saturated colour distinguishes the pair among numerous figures.

A dark figure sits facing the water at the lower left. Visitors’ orientations connect the bank with the river.

A dog crosses the shaded foreground. Its horizontal body varies the predominantly upright standing figures.

Small boats and pale sails appear on the river. Activities on the water extend the leisure of visitors ashore.

Tree trunks divide the sunlit bank. The study already establishes the principal verticals of the future large painting.

Comparing this study with the Chicago painting reveals a real working sequence. The arrangement of people preceded the final, densely dotted surface.