Study of Figures for La Grande Jatte

This 1884 National Gallery panel is a figure study for Un Dimanche à La Grande Jatte — Seurat's most celebrated work, begun in 1884 and shown at the final Impressionist exhibition in 1886. The Grande Jatte was an island in the Seine at Neuilly used by Parisians for Sunday recreation, and Seurat's monumental canvas transformed its leisure scene into a rigorous geometrical composition. Working from small studies like this one, he developed the compositional placement of individual figures across the canvas before applying his systematic Pointillist technique to the large surface.

The study shows figures sketched in with minimal detail — establishing proportions and placement rather than finished characterization. Seurat's systematic instinct is evident in the deliberate positioning of each figure element within the compositional grid. The handling is spare and economical, building toward the final canvas's geometric clarity.