Georges Seurat - Gray weather at the Grande Jatte - 1888

Gray Weather at the Grande Jatte - G Seurat 1888 - Oil on canvas 70.5 x 86.4 cm - The MET NY © Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection

This view extends from the island of The Great Jatte, framed by trees, to the red-roofed houses of the Paris suburb of Asnieres or Courbevoie across the Seine. Seurat had earlier celebrated this stretch of the river with his ambitious compositions Bathers at Asnieres (1883-84)National Gallery, London) and A Sunday on The Great Jatte (1884-86, Art Institute of Chicago).
Here he sought "to transcribe most exactly the vivid outdoor clarity [of nature] in all its nuances" using a technique known as Divisionism (also called Pointillism). The painted border was added shortly before the picture was first exhibited in 1889. © The MET NY