: On June 19, The Art Institute of Chicago is opening an exhibition
that tells the story of one of the world's most beloved - and
enigmatic - paintings, Georges Seurat's (1859--91) "A
Sunday on La Grande Jatte-1884."
On view through September 19, the exhibition "Seurat and
the Making of 'La Grande Jatte'" will reassess this singular
masterpiece, examining its origins and creation, as well as its
legacy to the Art Institute, to Chicago, and to the history of
Modernism. The exhibition will not travel.
"A Sunday on La Grande Jatte-1884" (1884-86) is one of the most
famous, visited and frequently reproduced paintings in the world.
Seen by tens of millions of viewers since its arrival in 1926,
the picture is an Art Institute icon and a destination in itself
for visitors who travel here from around the globe. First
exhibited in Paris in 1886, it was a visual manifesto that
quickly became a landmark in the development of modern painting.
Today, "La Grande Jatte" continues to fascinate scholars,
museum visitors, artists and advertisers alike. With more than
130 paintings and works on paper from public and private
collections worldwide, "Seurat and the Making of 'La
Grande Jatte'" will demonstrate how Georges Seurat set the stage
for art beyond Impressionism.
The exhibition celebrates "La Grande Jatte" and its place
within Seurat's own artistic evolution; its impact as a watershed
event for the Parisian vanguard when it was first exhibited at
the eighth and final Impressionist Exhibition; and its resonance
in the works of the artist's closest colleagues. All of the Art
Institute's formidable scientific, curatorial and technical
resources have been harnessed to provide fresh information and
insights, prompting viewers to appreciate in exciting new ways
both the final painting and the process that led to it.
Among the works on view in the exhibition are about 40 of
Seurat's paintings and drawings related to the picture, from rich
yet delicate conté crayon studies to oil sketches on small wood
panels, to nearly full-sized paintings. The exhibition will begin
with some of Seurat's early works from 1881-82, and then show the
remarkable transformation of his colors and subject matter around
1883, when he started to explore the modern-life subjects,
high-keyed colors and broken brushwork of Impressionism. Also
featured are paintings by Claude Monet and Pierre August Renoir,
painters whom Seurat greatly admired, and whose depictions of
figures at the seaside, boating or promenading through fields
would resonate in Seurat's unabashed tribute to modern leisure.
Works by Paul Signac, Camille Pissarro and Pissaro's son Lucien
are also featured.
A special feature of the exhibition is the groundbreaking
research on "La Grande Jatte" conducted by the Art
Institute's conservation, imaging and curatorial staff, in
collaboration with a distinguished Seurat scholar and an
internationally known color scientist. Art-historical, scientific
and technical resources have been brought together to examine and
analyze the three stages through which Seurat reworked and
reenvisioned the painting - from its 1884-85 genesis to the 1885
addition of the signature pointillist dots and dashes, to the
circa 1888-89 addition of its painted border.
The exhibition requires dated, timed tickets. Public tickets
go on sale May 16. The Art Institute of Chicago is at 111 South
Michigan Avenue. For tickets, 312-930-4040.
