The Models

The Models (Les Poseuses, 1886–88) was Seurat's second monumental canvas, showing three nude models in his studio — one undressing, one standing, one seated — with La Grande Jatte visible on the studio wall. The work answered critics who questioned whether divisionism could handle the nude figure as well as landscape. By juxtaposing the living models with their painted counterparts on the wall, Seurat created a meditation on representation and artistic process. The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, holds the large version.

The nude figures are rendered in warm divisionist dots with carefully modulated shadow complementaries. The studio interior, including the glimpsed Grande Jatte canvas, is built in cooler, more subdued dotwork. Seurat's command of figure modelling through point-work is most fully demonstrated in this ambitious interior composition.