The Eiffel Tower

Painted in 1889 on a small wooden panel, Seurat's depiction of the Eiffel Tower captures the structure just months after its completion for the 1889 Paris Universal Exposition. As a painter committed to modernity, Seurat was drawn to this icon of industrial engineering; the tower appears from a distance, its iron skeleton rendered in dots of contrasting colour against a luminous sky. The choice of subject aligns him with the broader Neo-Impressionist embrace of modern urban life and technology. The work is now in the collection of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco.

The tower's latticed form is built from tiny dabs of orange and rust set against a cool blue-green sky, demonstrating simultaneous contrast at architectural scale. Despite its small panel format, the pointillist surface is finely consistent and the sky gradients are precisely modulated from zenith to horizon.