Painting · Georges Seurat · 1884–1886
Seurat, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte is Georges Seurat's large oil painting of Parisians at leisure on the Seine, painted between 1884 and 1886 and held by the Art Institute of Chicago. It is the founding work of Neo-Impressionism and, Seurat having died in 1891, is in the public domain.
History
Seurat spent two years on the painting, making dozens of oil sketches and drawings on the island of La Grande Jatte, a popular Sunday retreat downstream from Paris, and then building the final canvas in his studio from small, separate touches of pure colour that the eye blends at a distance. The method, which he called chromoluminarism and critics called pointillism, was meant to make colour more luminous than mixing on the palette could.
The picture was shown at the last Impressionist exhibition in 1886, where it divided opinion and drew the younger painters Signac and Pissarro to the new technique. It was bought for the Art Institute of Chicago in 1924 and has not left the museum since 1958. The canvas is large, about 208 by 308 cm, and Seurat later added a painted border of dots around the edge.
What the print shows
Some forty figures on a sunlit riverbank: a woman with a parasol and a monkey on a leash, a man in a top hat, a girl in white at the centre, a reclining boatman with a pipe, and sailing boats and rowers on the water behind. The whole surface is made of dots and dashes of colour, visible up close in the reproduction and merging at a normal viewing distance. The print is wide, close to 3 : 2, and is offered up to 30 by 40 inches.
Source and licence
Source: The Art Institute of Chicago.
Licence: Public domain. The painter died in 1891, and the Art Institute publishes its photograph of the painting under Creative Commons Zero (CC0).
Oil on canvas, 207.5 by 308.1 cm; Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection.
Available sizes and prices
Print: paper or framed Etsy listing 4570236630
| Size | Paper | Framed |
|---|---|---|
| 8 × 12 in (21 × 30 cm) | $29.99 | $98.99 |
| 12 × 18 in (30 × 45 cm) | $44.99 | $137.99 |
| 16 × 24 in (40 × 60 cm) | $54.99 | $195.99 |
| 24 × 36 in (60 × 90 cm) | $69.99 | $332.99 |
| 28 × 40 in (70 × 100 cm) | — | $447.99 |
| 30 × 40 in (75 × 100 cm) | $123.99 | — |
Printed to order, shipped in 2–5 business days, free US shipping. Paper: matte fine-art paper. Framed: real wood (black, white, wood, dark wood), shatterproof acrylic, ready to hang.
Buy
- Georges Seurat A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte 1884-86 (print: paper or framed): buy on Etsy, from $29.99.
Frequently asked questions
- Where is A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte?
- At the Art Institute of Chicago, which acquired it in 1924. It has been on view there continuously and rarely travels.
- What is pointillism?
- Painting with small separate dots of pure colour that mix in the viewer's eye rather than on the palette. Seurat developed the technique for this painting; he called it chromoluminarism.
- How big is the original painting?
- About 2 by 3 metres (207.5 by 308.1 cm). The print is scaled down but keeps the proportions, and the largest size offered is 30 by 40 inches.
- Is the painting copyright-free?
- Yes. Seurat died in 1891 and the museum's photograph is released under CC0, so the image can be reproduced without permission.
Sources
Published 20 Oct 2026; prices are the live Etsy prices as of 20 Oct 2026. The work is public domain; this page's text is © ThinkDotCo and may be quoted with a link.