This is A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by George Seurat.
It is the piece that marked the beginning of the neo-impressionist movement which Seurat helped found, inspiring the pointillist works of Paul Signac and Henry Edmund Cross, among others.
This new rebellious form of Impressionism was inspired by optical theory and science-based interpretations of lines and colors.
Seurat was inspired to bring onto the canvas this new art movement using the optical effects and the color theories discussed by Michel-Eugène Chevreux and Ogden Rood.
The landscape of this piece, the island of La Grangette, is located just west of Paris.
It was an industrial site for many years, but when Seurat began the painting in 1884, it was a rustic retreat away from the urban center, which was in the midst of the Belle Epoque, a period in the history of Paris that saw construction of the Eiffel Tower, the Paris Metro, the completion of the Paris Opera, and the foundation of the Basilica of St-Cul-Coeur in Montmartre.
Millions of people visited the City of Light to take in the latest innovations in architecture, art, and technology.
Seurat spent two years completing this painting.
To correctly capture its meticulous landscape, he visited the park repeatedly during which he completed numerous drawings and sketches before putting brush to canvas.
In his preparation, we can see how he truly concentrated on the light and form.
