Study for "La Grande Jatte"
1884/1885
Artist, French, 1859 - 1891


West Building Main Floor, Gallery 88
Artwork overview
-
Medium
oil on wood
-
Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 15.9 x 25 cm (6 1/4 x 9 13/16 in.)
framed: 33.3 x 41.9 x 5.7 cm (13 1/8 x 16 1/2 x 2 1/4 in.) -
Accession
1970.17.81
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
(Bernheim-Jeune, Paris). (Alex Reid & Lefèvre, Glasgow and London).[1] Percy Moore Turner [died c. 1951], London, and Oxnead, Gerrards Cross, Buckingham, by 1933 until at least 1937.[2] (Wildenstein & Co., Inc., London, New York, and Paris); Capt. Edward H. Molyneux [1891-1974], London and Paris, probably by 1943;[3] sold 15 August 1955 to Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York; bequest 1970 to NGA.
[1] Reid & Lefèvre handled several sketches for La Grande Jatte of these same dimension, according to the Lefèvre archives, Hyman Kreitman Research Centre, Tate Britain, London, TGA 2002/11.
[2] Lent by Turner to exhibitions in London in 1933 and 1937.
[3] According to Rewald and Dorra, Seurat, Paris, 1959: no. 109, Molyneux acquired from Wildenstein in 1943.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1933
Seurat et ses amis, Paris, 1933-1934, no. 67.
1937
Seurat and his Contemporaries, Wildenstein & Co., London, 1937, no. 39.
1952
French Paintings from the Molyneux Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1952, unnumbered checklist.
1961
French Paintings of the Nineteenth Century from the Collection of Mrs. Mellon Bruce, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1961, no. 57, repro.
1966
French Paintings from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and Mrs. Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, no. 145, repro.
1988
The Pastoral Landscape: The Modern Vision, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1988-1989, no. 119, fig. 223.
1989
Impressionisti della National Gallery of Art di Washington, Ala Napoleonica e Museo Correr, Venice; Palazzo Reale, Milan, 1989, unnumbered catalogue, repro.
1991
Georges Seurat 1859-1891, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1991-1992, no. 121, repro., as Une voile sur l'eau
2004
Seurat and the Making of the Grande Jatte, Art Institute of Chicago, 2004, no. 41
2007
Georges Seurat: The Drawings, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2007, no. 109, repro.
2013
Intimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art, Museo dell'Ara Pacis Augustae, Rome (exhibition title in this venue: Impressionist Gems); California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, Seattle Art Museum, 2013-2016, pl. 25.
Bibliography
1959
Dorra, Henri, and John Rewald. Seurat, l'oeuvre peint, biographie et catalogue critique. Paris, 1959: no. 109, repro.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 324, repro.
1978
Small French Paintings from the Bequest of Ailsa Mellon Bruce. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978: 78, repro. (continuing exhibition beginning in 1978).
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 515, no. 776, 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. 28, repro.
Grenier, Catherine. Seurat: Catalogue complet des peintures. Paris, 1991: no. 112, repro.
Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 263.
2000
Kirsh, Andrea, and Rustin S. Levenson. Seeing Through Paintings: Physical Examination in Art Historical Studies. Materials and Meaning in the Fine Arts 1. New Haven, 2000: 6-7, color fig. 1.
2014
Kelly, Franklin. "A Lasting Legacy: The Completion of an Unparalleled Gift." National Gallery of Art Bulletin nno. 51 (Fall 2014): 10-11, repro.
Inscriptions
lower left with stamp: Seurat
Wikidata ID
Q20189720