Location📍 Art Institute of Chicago → Gallery 240

A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884

Georges Seurat aimed to make a painting of modern life equivalent to a classical Greek frieze through 'A Sunday on La Grande Jatte—1884'. Featuring people of every age and social class on the banks of the River Seine, the artwork features Seurat's characteristic pointillist technique, where figures and forms dissolve into dots and dashes of complementary colors when viewed closely. Returning to the work two years after its start date, Seurat amplified the silhouettes of certain figures and added others. Some of these additions seem so integral to the final composition that it is difficult to imagine the work without them, while others, such as the man carrying a rolled newspaper in the furthest distance, are barely noticeable.