The Circus

Georges Seurat prints bring the shimmering dots of Pointillism and the soft, mysterious shadows of his crayon drawings into your home. Seurat was the French painter who invented the Pointillist technique and launched Neo-Impressionism with A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Our collection of fine art prints covers his paintings, studies for his great canvases, seascapes and his celebrated conté crayon drawings.

About Georges Seurat

Georges Pierre Seurat was born in Paris on 2 December 1859, the son of a wealthy former legal official. He studied at a municipal drawing school run by the sculptor Justin Lequien and from 1878 at the École des Beaux-Arts under Henri Lehmann, copying antique casts and old master drawings. He studied Delacroix's use of colour closely and developed a theory of contrasts that shaped all his later work. After a year of military service in Brest he returned to Paris.

In 1883 he painted his first major work, Bathers at Asnières, young men relaxing by the Seine. Rejected by the Salon, it was shown at the Groupe des Artistes Indépendants in 1884, where he met Paul Signac, Charles Angrand and Henri-Edmond Cross. In the summer of 1884 he began A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, for which he made about sixty studies; its showing launched Neo-Impressionism.

He kept private his relationship with the model Madeleine Knobloch, who became pregnant with his child. He painted seaside views on the Channel coast each summer, including Gravelines in 1890, and in his last years The Models, Le Chahut and The Circus. He died in Paris on 29 March 1891, aged just 31.

Style and Subjects

Seurat built his paintings from countless small dots and strokes of pure colour placed side by side, so that they blend in the viewer's eye; he called this chromoluminarism. His compositions are calm, ordered and carefully planned, with figures that look almost like classical sculpture.

His drawings in black conté crayon on rough paper are just as admired: figures and landscapes emerge softly from deep, velvety shadows, without any outlines at all.

Famous Works

• Bathers at Asnières (1884), National Gallery, London. Young men relaxing by the Seine, his first great painting.
• A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884–86), Art Institute of Chicago. Parisians at leisure by the river, the icon of Neo-Impressionism.
• The Models (Les Poseuses) (1886), Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia. Three models posing in his studio, with La Grande Jatte behind them.
• The Circus Parade (1888), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. A mysterious night-time sideshow lit by gas lamps.
• Young Woman Powdering Herself (1889), Courtauld Gallery, London. Madeleine Knobloch at her dressing table.
• Le Chahut (1889), Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo. Cancan dancers kicking in rhythmic lines.
• The Channel of Gravelines, Petit Fort Philippe (1890). A calm Channel seascape from his last summer.
• The Circus (1891), Musée d'Orsay, Paris. A bareback rider and clown, painted in his final year.

Decorating with Seurat Prints

Seurat's shimmering seascapes and river scenes, like L'Hospice et le Phare de Honfleur, bring calm light to a living room, bedroom or coastal home, and suit modern and classic interiors alike.

His conté crayon drawings, such as The Black Bow, look superb in simple frames in a study, hallway or reading corner, where their soft shadows invite a closer look.

FAQ

What is Pointillism?

Pointillism is the technique Seurat developed of painting with small dots of pure colour placed side by side, which blend optically in the viewer's eye.

What is Seurat's most famous painting?

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884–86), in the Art Institute of Chicago, is his masterpiece and one of the icons of 19th-century art.

How old was Seurat when he died?

He died in Paris on 29 March 1891 at just 31, leaving a small but hugely influential body of work.

Where can I see Seurat's paintings?

The Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery in London, the Musée d'Orsay, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation, the Courtauld and the Kröller-Müller Museum hold key works.

Related Artists

• Paul Signac: his closest follower and fellow Neo-Impressionist
• Henri-Edmond Cross: fellow Neo-Impressionist he met at the Indépendants
• Maximilien Luce: Neo-Impressionist who adopted his technique
• Charles Angrand: fellow founder of the Indépendants circle
• Pierre Puvis de Chavannes: muralist whose Poor Fisherman Seurat painted into a landscape