Vêtements sur l’herbe (1883)

Vêtements sur l’herbe (Clothes on the Grass)
1883
Oil on wood, 16.2 x 24.8 cm
Tate Britain, London

This is one of a series of small studies in oil on panel for Seurat‘s first large painting ‘Bathing at Asnières‘, now in the National Gallery. The final composition shows people sunning themselves or bathing by the bank of the Seine at Asnières, a suburb of Paris, with the Courbevoie bridge in the background and the Ile de la Grande Jatte on the right. Seurat is known to have completed fourteen preliminary oil sketches for the painting, as well as ten drawings. Most of the oil sketches appear to have been made on the spot and show that Seurat shifted his position on the bank several times before deciding on his viewpoint. The figures included in some of the sketches were depicted by chance and Seurat dropped some in the final painting. (Tate)

This is one of 13 or 14 oil sketches that Seurat made in preparation for his first large-scale painting, Bathing at Asnières (National Gallery, London). The sketches offer a fascinating insight into how Seurat developed and adjusted his visual ideas when planning the picture. Most of them appear to have been made outside on the riverbank. They show slight shifts in perspective as Seurat changed his position in search of the angles he wanted.

This sketch is very close to the final viewpoint. Seurat has paid most attention to the river itself. The grass and sky are very roughly sketched in with broad brushstrokes and simple, bright colours. The pile of clothes referred to is also depicted in the most rudimentary way. By contrast, the water’s surface is much more carefully composed, with long, even, horizontal brushstrokes. Seurat mixed pink, blue, white and ochre to capture the shimmer of sunlight and the reflections on the water. (NG)