Description
Study for La Grande Jatte (London) is Seurat’s small oil study on wood from 1884–1885: the bank of the island of La Grande Jatte with slim trunks, a broad sweep of grass and the pale river at the right, still without the Sunday crowd that would arrive on the large canvas. The original is held by the National Gallery in London under accession number NG6556. We make it as a hand-painted canvas painting, oil on canvas, in six sizes or to your own measurements, and you receive a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch.
| Title: | Study for La Grande Jatte (London) |
| Other titles: | Study for “La Grande Jatte” · Croqueton |
| Painter: | Georges Seurat (1859–1891) |
| Year painted: | 1884–1885; the museum record notes no signature |
| Original size: | 25 cm x 16 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on wood |
| Painting style: | Pointillism |
| Located at: | The National Gallery, London (acc. no. NG6556) |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted in oil on linen, 6 sizes from 25 x 16 cm to 90 x 60 cm, custom sizes on request |
Study for La Grande Jatte (London) – Georges Seurat
Who is in the picture?
Almost nobody, and that is the interesting part. On this panel only two or three tiny dark figures stand in the distance near the water; the Sunday crowd the island is famous for is not there yet. The museum record names no one, and it could not: these are not sitters but marks with which the painter noted where people would stand. In the summers of 1884 and 1885 Seurat went out to the island of La Grande Jatte with a box of small wooden panels and painted in the open air; the figures came later, in the studio. If you know the large canvas, what you are looking at here is its stage, built and still empty.
What is on the panel?
A horizontal wooden panel barely the size of a hand. The lower two thirds are a bank of grass in warm yellow-green strokes, noticeably broader than the dots on the finished canvas. Slim, almost vertical trunks enter from the left, and between them the view opens onto the Seine: a pale blue-grey sheet of water with two tiny sails. Above, the sky is light and even, without cloud, so the whole weight of the picture falls on the line where grass meets water. The paint is laid on quickly, in short strokes — this was made on the spot, not in a studio.
Why does this study matter?
Because it shows how this French painter’s best-known canvas — the famous painting of a Paris Sunday — was built. Seurat made dozens of panels like it for the Grande Jatte, and each tested one thing: the balance of sun and shade, the line of the bank, the colour of the water. He did not improvise; he assembled. On this panel the question of how the grass should meet the river is settled, and that particular cut never changed in the final work. The National Gallery keeps it in Room 44, part of Heinz Berggruen’s gift of 1995.
What does the study mean?
Less than the large canvas does, and therefore differently. There is no Sunday ritual here and no picture of society; this is simply a place by the river on a summer afternoon, painted so the painter would remember it. That absence of narrative is exactly what makes it easy to live with: the scene asks nothing, poses no question and does not wear out. If you know the Grande Jatte you read it as the sketch of a large idea; if you do not, you see a quiet riverbank. Both readings are correct, and that is rare.
What happened to the original?
The National Gallery publishes the panel’s whole route. It belonged to the Appert family in Paris, then to the Galerie Bignou; until 1936 it was with Reid and Lefevre in London and M. Knoedler and Co. in New York, and in 1937 Reid and Lefevre sold it to Georges Renand. By 1966 it had passed to Wildenstein and Co. in Paris and New York, then into the collection of Florence J. Gould in Cannes, where it stayed until her death in 1983. From her estate it was sold at Sotheby’s New York on 24 April 1985 and bought by Heinz Berggruen, who presented it to the National Gallery in 1995. Those details are the museum’s; we add none of our own.
Where does this study sit in Seurat’s work?
Among the preparations for Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, held by the Art Institute of Chicago. This shelf carries three different preparations for the same canvas, each on its own panel: this London one shows the empty bank, Study for La Grande Jatte (right) from the Musée d’Orsay works out the right-hand side of the scene, and Study for A Sunday on La Grande Jatte from the Metropolitan Museum is the last large colour study, with the composition already settled. Gray Weather, Grande Jatte is the same island under a covered sky, painted years later — one place, four fine art reproduction subjects.
How is our hand-painted version made?
It is made with a brush and oil paint, never a printer. Our painter works from a high-resolution museum file and keeps exactly what separates a study from a finished work: broad, quick strokes instead of dense dots. Pointillism is only forming here, and “correcting” these strokes into small dots would erase what this work is. Because everything is done by hand, no two canvases are ever quite the same and every hand-painted copy stays a one-off. We do not yet hold our own photographs of a finished canvas for this work; the first time it is painted we will photograph it and the pictures will appear here.
Which size for which wall?
If you do not know which: 60 x 40 cm. The original measures 25 x 16 cm and our smallest size, 25 x 16 cm, is one to one with it — on a shelf or a desk it is exactly the small thing it was. The format is horizontal, in a 25 : 16 ratio, so it sits well above a narrow chest, between two doors, or in a group of smaller works. 50 x 30 and 60 x 40 cm are the everyday choices for a hallway or bedroom; 70 x 45 and 80 x 50 cm stand alone above a bed; 90 x 60 cm is our largest size for this subject and also the ceiling the museum file will carry. Every copy of this subject is made to order.
Custom size, stretcher bar and frame
If none of the six sizes fits your wall, we paint to your measurements and keep the ratio of the original so bank and river do not shift; that is our custom size painting service. Every copy arrives stretched on a wooden stretcher bar, ready to hang. You choose the frame in our 3D application: on this subject it shows every profile we carry — gold, silver, black, white, natural wood — and it is for choosing a frame and nothing else. To see the work on your own wall, that is our separate room-visualisation service, ordered on its own.
Delivery and guarantee
Every copy is made to order in our Slovenian studio, so allow 15 to 45 days depending on the size. We ship it stretched and protected for transport, framed if you chose a frame, across the EU with no customs charge. Before dispatch you approve a photograph of the finished work, and our returns policy applies to every order. The full range is in the Georges Seurat gallery, and his life and Neo-Impressionism are described in our article about Georges Seurat, which also explains what separates a good oil painting reproduction from a poor one.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original?
In the National Gallery in London, Room 44, under accession number NG6556. The museum received it in 1995 as Heinz Berggruen’s gift.
Are there recognisable people on the panel?
No. Only two or three tiny figures stand in the distance, and the museum record names none of them; the Sunday crowd arrived only on the large canvas.
Is this the same work as Sunday Afternoon on the Grande Jatte?
No. This is a preparatory study on wood, 25 x 16 cm; the finished canvas measures 308 x 208 cm and hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago. Both are on this shelf, as separate products.
Is this a print?
No. The work is painted by hand in oil on linen; the brushwork is visible and can be felt.
Which size should I choose?
For a hallway or bedroom, 60 x 40 cm; for the size of the original, 25 x 16 cm. The full guide is above.
Can I have a size that is not listed?
Yes. We paint to measure, keeping the side ratio of the original.
Why is 90 x 60 cm the largest size?
Because that is what the museum file carries. Larger sizes would mean poorer resolution, and we would rather not offer a size than sell a soft one.
What is the painting about, in one sentence?
The empty bank before the scene: the place where the famous Sunday was still only being prepared.
Is the original for sale and what is it worth?
No. The panel is in the public collection of the National Gallery in London and is not for sale; a hand-painted canvas of ours is the only way to have it at home.
How high should I hang it?
Centre at eye level, about 145–150 cm from the floor. At the small sizes hang it lower and nearer where you sit.
Is it suitable as a gift?
The smaller sizes make a good gift: the subject is quiet and fits almost any wall. If you would rather leave the choice to the person receiving it, there is our gift voucher.
- Subject: the bank of the island of La Grande Jatte with slim trunks and the pale river, without the Sunday crowd – 1884–1885
- Original: 25 x 16 cm, oil colour on wood, The National Gallery, London (acc. no. NG6556)
- Ours: hand-painted in oils, six sizes, 25 x 16 to 90 x 60 cm, stretched and framed on request
- Worth knowing: the strokes here are broader than on the finished canvas – this was made on the bank, not in a studio
