Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
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| Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte |
| Georges Seurat, 1884–1886 |
| oil on canvas |
| 207.6 × 308 cm, 81.7 × 121.25 inches |
| Art Institute of Chicago |
Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (Un dimanche après-midi à l'Ile de la Grande Jatte) is Georges Seurat's most famous work, and is an example of pointillism that is widely considered to be one of the most remarkable paintings of the 19th century, belonging to the Post-Impressionism period.
The island of Ile de la [Grand] Jatte is in the Seine in Paris between La Defense and the suburb of Neuilly, bisected by the Pont-de-Levallois. Although for many years it was an industrial site; today it is the site of a public garden and a housing development. In 1884, the island was a bucolic retreat far from the urban center.
Seurat spent two years painting it, focusing scrupulously on the landscape of the park. He reworked the original as well as completed numerous preliminary drawings and oil sketches. He would go and sit in the park and make numerous sketches of the various figures in order to perfect their form. He concentrated on the issues of color, light, and form. The painting is 81 by 120 inches (approximately 2 by 3 metres or 7 by 10 feet).
Motivated by study in optical and color theory, he contrasted miniature dots of colors that, through optical unification, form a single hue in the viewer's eye. He believed that this form of painting, now known as pointillism, would make the colors more brilliant and powerful than standard brush strokes. To make the experience of the painting even more vivid, he surrounded it with a frame of painted dots, which in turn he enclosed with a pure white, wooden frame, which is how the painting is exhibited today at the Art Institute of Chicago.
[edit] In pop culture
- The Stephen Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with George is based on the painting.
- The painting is featured in the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
- In 2004, 20th Century Fox's "The Simpsons" were featured in a poster titled "A Day at the River" which imitates Seurat's famous painting. A mid-90s Looney Tunes calendar also includes a parody.
- In PC and Commodore 64 versions of the video game Maniac Mansion, a shredded print of the painting hangs over the decaying dining room table.
- Old Deaf School Park, a park in Columbus, Ohio attempts to replicate the piece in three-dimensional topiary. [1].
- Nancy Cameron was posed in front of a copy of the painting, dressed in a similar way, for the January, 1974, edition of Playboy.
- The Nintendo game Animal Crossing: Wild World has this painting for sale under the name "Calm Painting"
A former restaurant at the Mall of America called "Minnesota Picnic" featured a mural rather close in style and size to the Seurat original.
- A 2006 parks promotion in Beloit, Wisconsin recreated the painting (in photographic form) along the Rock River. [2]
- A scene in Looney Tunes: Back in Action has Elmer Fudd chasing Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck into this painting.
[edit] Related works by Seurat
 Bathers at Asnières, 1883-1884 |
 Figures assises, 1884 |
 Die Insel La Grande Jatte mit Ausflüglern, 1884 |
 Paysage et personnages, 1884-1885 |
 Groupe de personnages, 1884-1885 |
 Esquisse d'ensemble, 1884-1885 |
 Femmes au bord de l'eau, 1885-1886 |
 Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte, 1884-1886 |
