Description
End of the Jetty, Honfleur is a painting by Georges Seurat from 1886: on the left a dark jetty with a slender lighthouse runs out into the sea, on the right sailing boats glide across misty, pale water, and a grassy shore fills the lower part of the canvas. The original, oil paint on canvas, measures 55 x 46 cm and is held by the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo under number KM 101.824. We paint it for you as a canvas painting, by hand in oils, in eight sizes or to your own measurements; before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished work for approval.
| Title: | End of the Jetty, Honfleur |
| Other titles: | »Bout de la jetée à Honfleur« / »Harbour Entrance at Honfleur« |
| Painter: | Georges Seurat (1859–1891) |
| Year painted: | 1886 |
| Original size: | 55 cm x 46 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Small dots and short strokes of pure colour placed side by side |
| Located at: | Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo (inv. no. KM 101.824) |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes from 46 x 38 cm to 150 x 120 cm, custom size on request |
End of the Jetty, Honfleur – Georges Seurat
What does the painting show?
The end of a jetty and the open sea beyond it. From the left edge a long, dark jetty of close-set upright timbers or planks reaches almost to the centre, ending in a light, pointed tip. On the jetty stands a tall, slender lighthouse with a balcony below the lantern and a small dome with a spike on top, with a low, round-roofed building on either side. Beyond the jetty opens a wide, pale sea with sailing boats: two in the middle, two on the right near the edge and a few tiny sails far in the distance. Closer to the viewer, right of centre, the pale sail of a boat rises above the shore, its hull hidden by the grassy bank. At the edge of the bank on the right stands a small, dark upright object, and in the middle of the left foreground there is a thin pole. The lower third is grassy shore; the sky is light and hazy and fills the upper half. There are no people in the painting.
What is on the canvas?
A horizontal canvas covered entirely with small dots and short strokes of colour. Sky, sea, jetty and grass are all built this way: no area is painted flat, each is made of thousands of small, close-set touches. Today this way of painting is called pointillism. Sky and sea are both pale and almost merge at the horizon; the jetty and the lighthouse are the darkest part of the painting, and the grass in the foreground is made of green, bluish and warmer dots. Up close you see only dots; a few steps back they blend into haze, timber and grass. The museum gives the size as 46 × 55 cm, height before width. Colours on screen may differ from the original, so take them as a guide rather than a sample.
Why does this painting matter?
Because it shows how the French painter Georges Seurat builds air and light out of dots alone, not just objects. The real subject of the painting is the haze over the sea: sky and water take up most of the canvas, and the lighthouse and jetty are the only solid, dark forms. The composition is simple and clear. Three horizontal bands, grass, sea and sky, lie one above another; on the left the dark jetty cuts across them like a heavy beam, with the upright lighthouse rising from it. The sailing boats are spread over the right half and balance the jetty on the left. For a buyer it is a calm subject that rewards a long look: first a bright, misty day by the sea, then the distant sails, the sail behind the bank and the small details of the lighthouse.
What does the painting mean?
The quiet of the coast. The viewer stands on the grassy bank and looks out towards the open sea, where sailing boats are leaving or coming in. Nothing is in a hurry: the sea is calm, the sky cloudless, the lighthouse motionless. Its pale, hazy tones feel fresh and airy in a room, and the dark jetty gives it enough weight not to fade into emptiness. At home it sits well with white and pale walls, blue and grey fabrics, wood and linen, especially in a room where you would like at least a touch of the sea.
What place does it have among Seurat’s works?
The museum record dates it to 1886 and lists it under the titles »Bout de la jetée à Honfleur« and »Harbour Entrance at Honfleur«. Honfleur appears in the titles of two more paintings we offer: Entrance to the Port of Honfleur is held by the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, and Evening, Honfleur by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. The Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, home of End of the Jetty, Honfleur, also holds Port-en-Bessin, a Sunday, which the museum presents on its own website. For several of Seurat’s waterside scenes on one wall, this one can hang beside any of them.
How is our hand-painted version made?
With a brush and oil paint, never with a printer. Our painter works from an image of the original and builds the surface from small dots, as you see them in the photograph: first the main areas, grass, sea, jetty and sky, then colour dot by dot. A pointillist technique calls for patience here, because the balcony and dome of the lighthouse, the upright planks of the jetty and the tiny sails in the distance must all be painted in dots too. We take particular care that the pale sky and sea stay hazy and airy without looking empty, and that the line between them remains barely visible. Because everything is done by hand, no two canvases are ever quite the same, and every hand-painted copy is one of a kind. We have no photographs of our own of a finished canvas of this subject yet; when we first paint it, we will photograph it and publish the photographs here.
Which size for which wall?
If you are not sure which to choose, take 60 x 50 cm. It is the size closest to the original: the original measures 55 x 46 cm, and ours is 5 cm wider and 4 cm taller. The smaller size, 50 x 40 cm, is 5 cm narrower and 6 cm lower than the original; choose it if your wall has little room. The horizontal format fits above a sofa, a chest of drawers or a bed. 46 x 38 and 50 x 40 cm suit smaller walls, hallways and work corners; 60 x 50 and 70 x 60 cm fill a bedroom or dining-room wall on their own; at 80 x 65 and 90 x 75 cm the dots and sails read well even from a distance; 120 x 100 and 150 x 120 cm are for large living rooms, where the sea becomes almost a window onto the coast. Every oil painting reproduction of this subject is made to order.
Custom size, stretcher bar and frame
If none of the eight sizes suits your wall, we paint to your measurements and keep the proportions of the original, so that the lighthouse, the jetty and the sailing boats stay where they belong; that is our custom size painting service. Every canvas arrives stretched on a wooden stretcher bar, ready to hang. You choose a frame in our 3D app, which shows gold, silver, black, white and wooden profiles on this subject; the app is for choosing the frame only. To see the painting on your own wall, we offer a separate room-visualisation service.
Delivery and guarantee
We paint each canvas to order in our studio in Slovenia, so allow 15 to 45 days depending on the size. It ships stretched, protected and framed if you wish, within Slovenia and across the EU with no customs duty. Before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished work for approval, and our returns policy applies to every order. All of Seurat’s subjects are in the Georges Seurat gallery, and our article about Georges Seurat explains when a fine art reproduction of a famous painting is truly good.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original?
In the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, under number KM 101.824. According to the museum record it was painted in oils on canvas in 1886.
What is the dark wall on the left?
The end of the jetty that gives the painting its title. It is built of close-set upright timbers or planks, and the lighthouse and two low buildings stand on it.
Is »Bout de la jetée à Honfleur« the same work?
Yes. It is the French title the museum gives together with the English »Harbour Entrance at Honfleur«; End of the Jetty, Honfleur is our English title for the same canvas.
Is this a print?
No. It is hand-painted oil on canvas; the dots and brushstrokes are visible and can be felt.
Which size should I choose?
60 x 50 cm, the size closest to the original. The detailed guide is above.
Can I have a size that is not on the list?
Yes. We paint to measure and keep the side ratio of the original.
Is this neo-impressionism?
The museum record does not assign the painting to a movement, so neither do we. What is visible is a surface of small dots of pure colour placed side by side.
What is the thin pole in the foreground?
The museum record does not explain it. In the painting it is a thin upright line in the middle of the grassy bank below the jetty, reaching down to the water’s edge.
Is the original for sale?
No. The canvas belongs to the museum’s collection and is not for sale; we can paint it by hand for your home instead.
How high should I hang it?
With its centre at eye level, about 145–150 cm from the floor; hang the smaller sizes lower, nearer to where you sit.
Is it a good gift?
Yes, especially for someone who loves the sea, lighthouses and sailing. If you would rather leave the choice to the recipient, there is our gift voucher.
- Subject: a dark jetty with a lighthouse, sailing boats on a hazy, pale sea and a grassy shore in the foreground – 1886
- Original: 55 x 46 cm, oil paint on canvas, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo (inv. no. KM 101.824)
- Ours: hand-painted, eight sizes from 46 x 38 to 150 x 120 cm, always stretched, framed on request
- Worth knowing: sky and sea are painted in such similar pale dots that they almost merge at the horizon
