mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
by - February 21, 2008 - 4:06 PM
Several months back, a reader named Joseph suggested George Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” for, aptly enough, a Sunday afternoon. Since ‘Feel Art Again’ runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, though, I figured today was as good a time as any. And, with the snowy forecast for tomorrow (at least here in PA), a cheery weather painting is just what we need. So, I’m proud to present “Un dimanche après-midi à l’Île de la Grande Jatte” by Georges-Pierre Seurat.
1. George Seurat devoted two years to “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” spending afternoons in the park sketching figures. He completed approximately 60 studies for the 2×3 meter painting, and even reworked the original. He was most focused on color and light. Unfortunately, the pigment zinc yellow, which was new at the time, has darkened to brown over the years, changing the appearance of the lawn and other parts of the painting.
2. Seurat’s interest in the study and emotion of color might possibly be traced back to his childhood home. With his parents and two siblings, he lived at 100 Boulevard Magenta.
3. Near the end of his life, Seurat secretly cohabited with Madeleine Knobloch, a young model. In February 1890, she gave birth to their first son. Seurat died of uncertain causes in March 1891, shortly before the birth of his second son, who died soon after birth. Supposedly, Seurat had only introduced Knobloch and his son to his parents two days before his death.
4. After his death, the contents of Seurat’s studio were classified at his parents’ request. They offered the contents to the Louvre, but were refused; the contents were then divided amongst Knobloch and some of Seurat’s followers.
5. “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” isn’t just Seurat’s most famous painting, it is also one of the most famous and frequently reproduced paintings in the world. Like Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” Salvador Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory,” and Edvard Munch’s “The Scream,” Seurat’s painting is often reference in pop culture. Stephen Sondheim wrote a Tony award-winning musical about it; the Looney Tunes, the Simpsons, and Sesame Street parodied it; it appeared in “Barbarella” (1968) and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986); and Nancy Cameron posed in front of a copy of it for the January 1976 issue of Playboy.
6. In 2006, the painting was recreated in modern clothes in Beloit, WI. The recreation took place on a Saturday afternoon on the bank of the Rock River to promote the “Saturday in the Park with Friends” event. Arranged by Friends of Riverfront, the event was a bigger hit than expected. Check out the photo collection on flickr to see how close to the original they got.
A larger version of the painting is available here.
‘Feel Art Again’ appears every Tuesday and Thursday.
Comments (17)
Comment
Another interesting bit of trivia: It’s widely believed (but not confirmed) that the “Boatman” in the painting (lower left, foreground, with hat & pipe) is fellow artist (and art patron) Gustave Caillebotte. Caillebotte’s most famous painting “Paris Street, Rainy Day” is also housed at the Art Institute of Chicago, just steps away from “La Grande Jatte.”
posted by Tim on 2-21-2008 at 5:20 pm
and the best part about this post is that “sunday in the park with george” by stephen sondheim is opening on broadway right now.
how perfect!
posted by kay on 2-21-2008 at 5:39 pm
Another fun tidbit is that there is a topiary reconstruction of this painting at a park in Columbus, Ohio. It wasn’t in the greatest shape when I passed through there a few years ago, but maybe it’s doing better now.
posted by Cat on 2-21-2008 at 10:12 pm
I remember from my art history class that there was a big scandal about the painting when it was first shown due to the woman in the right foreground. She’s shown alone which, apparently, insinuated that she was a prostitute (the monkey on the leash was also supposed to be another sign). Big no no in 19th century Paris.
posted by Rose on 2-21-2008 at 11:17 pm
Is that Kim Kardashian on the far right with the umbrella?
posted by GT on 2-22-2008 at 2:21 am
For those of you in the NYC area, go see the revival of “Sunday in the Park with George” while you can. I saw it on my anniversary a few days after it opened and it was completely stunning. Now I’m trying to decide whether I want to see something I haven’t seen yet (I’m a three-hour drive from the City) or see that again before it closes.
posted by CJ Casey on 2-22-2008 at 7:07 am
Wow, you used my suggestion Andrea. I was thrilled when I scrolled down and saw “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”. Those were some great facts that you and your readers shared about it too. I was lucky enough to see the original when I was in Chicago about a dozen years ago. It is mind blowing. However, if you can’t make it to Chicago, check out the museum scene in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”. It is great the way that Cameron zooms in on the detail until all you see are the individual dots of colors.
Thanks again Andrea. Wonderful job.
posted by Joseph on 2-22-2008 at 10:31 am
Back in 1993, the Detroit Grand Prix used this painting as the basis for the advertising poster for that year’s race, but modifying it so it shows indy cars and the detroit waterfront on the left hand side. Pretty cool actually.
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find. The only image could find was through a google search: “Detroit Grand Prix XII”
It is on Proxibid, lot #44.
posted by It's good to be the King on 2-22-2008 at 10:36 am
What a vibrant painting to ponder on this sleety day, when the view outside my office window is one of fog, greyness, and freezing rain! I’ve always beeen a fan of Seurat, despite the pop-culture bandwagon. (And frankly, that phenomenon isn’t all bad, as pop culture does sometimes enable people to learn about the arts when they wouldn’t otherwise.) The Beloit, WI, re-creation is really fascinating. Must’ve been fun to be part of that.
posted by Therese on 2-22-2008 at 11:12 am
I was working for a Beloit newspaper when they recreated this painting – I was totally impressed with the result! And what added to the tongue-in-cheek fun of it was that they used some high-profile locals in the shoot, including a state senator who now displays the recreated poster proudly in her office.
posted by Anne on 2-22-2008 at 11:21 am
One of the only reasons I agreed to visit an old boyfriend in Chicago in the middle of winter was to see this painting.
posted by hannah on 2-22-2008 at 11:41 am
This is one of my favorite paintings. I saw it when it was at the Cincinnati Museum about 12 years ago maybe. Seurat’s did this in a “pointalism” style. Instead of brush strokes, he literally dotted the canvas with paint, from a distance it looks shimmering. If you get up close to it, you can actually see blank canvas between the dots of paint. God that’s painstaking!
posted by Matt on 2-22-2008 at 12:30 pm
Is it just me, or have I seen this on the outside wall of Trader Joe’s before?
posted by anon on 2-22-2008 at 1:29 pm
While in art school I remember hearing a lecture stating that Seurat used no green pigment in the painting-
posted by Richard on 2-23-2008 at 12:44 pm
I saw the original Sondheim musical and just saw the revival. It is a London production and what amazing use of projection against the back of the stage that they used. Modern technology really helped this restaging. You were actually able to see a version of the “Chromulume” in the second half. Go see it.
posted by Doug on 2-24-2008 at 9:56 am
Back in 1962, I worked at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and I used to take my brown-bag lunch and sit on a bench in front of “La Grande Jatte” (in those less paranoid times, it was permitted) and just look and look at it. I never got enough, always wanted more. Now I am involved with a small theater company in Tucson, Arizona, which is mounting a production of “Sunday in the Park with George” in June, and it sometimes seems as if my long-ago experience of soaking up that painting led me inexorably to being involved with this production of what is arguably the most masterful American musical ever written. How perfect!
posted by Dolly on 2-24-2008 at 12:11 pm
Joseph: You’re more than welcome! I enjoyed looking into the painting; it was a good suggestion.
posted by Andréa on 2-27-2008 at 6:30 pm