Seascape at Port-en-Bessin, Normandy
1888
Artist, French, 1859 - 1891
West Building Main Floor, Gallery 88
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
Gift of the W. Averell Harriman Foundation in memory of Marie N. Harriman
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Dimensions
overall: 65.1 x 80.9 cm (25 5/8 x 31 7/8 in.)
framed: 89.9 x 106 x 10.2 cm (35 3/8 x 41 3/4 x 4 in.) -
Accession
1972.9.21
More About this Artwork
Video: How Does Seurat Connect Pointillism to Workers Rights?
New York Times art critic Aruna D’Souza discusses the work of painter Georges Seurat.
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Presumably gift or by inheritance from the artist to his mother, Mme. Seurat. the artist's brother-in-law, Léon Appert [d. 1925], Paris; probably by inheritance to Léopold Appert, Paris. Félix Fénéon, Paris, by 1936 until 1937. Acquired September 1937 by Marie N. Harriman [1903-1970], New York;[1] by inheritance to her husband, W. Averell Harriman [1891-1986], New York; W. Averell Harriman Foundation, New York; gift 1972 to NGA.
[1] Fénéon is the owner listed in the 13 June - 11 July 1936 exhibition Le Grand Siècle at the Paul Rosenberg gallery, Paris (no. 60). Fénéon then lent the painting in 1937 to Wildenstein, London, for its exhibition Seurat and his Contemporaries (no. 62), which ran from 20 January - 27 February. Harriman purchased it later that same year, exhibiting it in November in her New York gallery (no. 17). See curatorial file for copies of all three catalogue entries.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1936
Le Grand Siècle, Galerie Rosenberg, Paris, 1936, no. 60
1937
Constable and the Landscape, Marie Harriman Gallery, New York, 1937, no. 17
1941
The Art of the Third Republic. Painting 1870-1940, Worcester Art Museum, 1941, no. 18
1953
Seurat and his Friends, Wildenstein & Co., New York, 1953, no. 10, repro.
1959
Masterpieces of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959, unnumbered catalogue, repro.
1961
Exhibition of the Marie and Averell Harriman Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1961, unnumbered catalogue, repro. 21.
1968
De Cézanne a Miró, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de la Universidad de Chile, Santiago; Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, 1968, unnumbered catalogue, repro.
1980
Post-Impressionism: Cross-Currents in European and American Painting 1880-1906, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980, not in cat.
1983
Loan for display with permanent collection, Munch Museum, Oslo, 1983-1984.
1984
A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Art Institute of Chicago; Grand Palais, Paris, 1984-1985, no. 124, repro.
1986
Capolavori Impressionisti dei Musei Americani, Museo e Gallerie Nazionali di Capodimonte, Naples; Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, 1986-1987, no. 45, repro.
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad; State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, 1986, no. 38, repro.
1991
Georges Seurat 1859-1891, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1991-1992, no. 205.
1992
From El Greco to Cézanne: Masterpieces of European Painting from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and The Metroplitan Museum of Art, New York, National Gallery of Greece, Athens, 1992-1993, no. 65, repro.
1999
Around Impressionism: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1999, no cat.
Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 1999, no. 60, repro.
2001
Vincent van Gogh und die Maler des Petit Boulevard [Vincent van Gogh and the Painters of the Petit Boulevard], Saint Louis Art Museum; Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, Frankfurt, 2001, unnumbered catalogue, repro.
2002
Neo-Impressionism: Artists on the Edge, Portland Museum of Art, Maine, 2002, unnumbered catalogue, fig. 3.
2007
Divisionism/Neo-Impressionism: Arcadia and Anarchy, Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin; Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2007, no. 9, repro. (shown only in New York).
2011
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The National Art Center, Tokyo; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, 2011, no. 46, repro.
2014
Seurat - Master of Pointillism, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, 2014, no. 9, repro.
Neo-impressionism and the Dream of Realities: Painting, Poetry, Music, The Phillips Collection, Washington, 2014-2015, unnumbered catalogue, fig. 57.
2019
Félix Fénéon, 1861-1944: les temps nouveaux, de Seurat a Matisse [Félix Fénéon, 1861-1944: the modern times, from Seurat to Matisse], Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris; Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2019-2020, no. 55, repro. (shown only at the Musée de l'Orangerie).
Bibliography
1959
Dorra, Henri, and John Rewald. Seurat, l'oeuvre peint, biographie et catalogue critique. Paris, 1959: no. 185, repro.
1972
"Recent Acquisitions of American and Canadian Museums." Art Quarterly 35 (Autumn 1972): 332, repro.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 324, repro.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 512, no. 769, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 371, repro.
1991
Coman, Florence E. Joie de Vivre: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1991: no. 29, repro.
Grenier, Catherine. Seurat: Catalogue complet des peintures. Paris, 1991: no. 194, repro.
1997
Kelder, Diane. The Great Book of French Impressionism, 1997, no. 6, repro.
2014
Kelly, Franklin. "A Lasting Legacy: The Completion of an Unparalleled Gift." National Gallery of Art Bulletin no. 51 (Fall 2014): 10-11, repro.
Inscriptions
lower right: Seurat
Wikidata ID
Q20189963