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Seurat's Sunday Afternoon(s)

Seurat's original painting Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

Georges-Pierre Seurat (December 2, 1859 – March 29, 1891) was a French painter and the founder of Neo-impressionism. His large work Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte is one of the icons of 19th century painting.

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte shows people of all different classes in a park. The tiny juxtaposed dots of multi-colored paint allow the eye of the viewer to blend colors optically, rather than having the colors blended on the canvas or pre-blended as a material pigment. It took Seurat two years to complete this ten foot wide painting, and he spent much time in the park sketching to prepare for the work (there are about 60 studies). It is now exhibited in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. More on Wikipedia.

The painting has inspired many other artists. On this page you'll find some of these creative interpretations.

As a Playmate of the Month…

American model and actress Nancy Cameron was chosen as Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for the January 1974 issue, which was Playboy's 20th anniversary issue. On the cover, she appears in front of the 1886 painting by Georges Seurat, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, and is posed similarly to the main character in that composition. Read more.

In an animated movie…

From a review: The real diamond in "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" is a scene set in the Louvre, where Daffy and Bugs are chased by Elmer Fudd through a melting Dali painting which disables Fudd's gun. They're into Edvard Munch's The Scream before Fudd reacts and Daffy's pixilated exiting from Georges Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Le Grande Jatte" ends the chase on an 'educational' note. More.

As Lego Art…

Created by student Jeremy Moody from over 6,000 1×1 Lego bricks. If you don’t recognize much detail in the picture, just sit back a meter or a few feet, and look again.

As a Flash animation…

Created by Lightship Visual. "The art lovers among you may recognise that the placement of these characters is derived from Seurat’s Sunday on the Island of Grand Jatte." More here.

As a collage of 106,000 soda cans…

American artist Chris Jordan recreated Seurat’s masterpiece with digital images of 106,000 aluminum cans - the number used in the US every thirty seconds! Official website.

As a live performance…

On July 1st, 2005, the community of Beloit, Wisconsin came together on the banks of the Rock River to recreate George Seurat’s “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of LaGrande Jatte” with the help of photography. “Saturday in the Park with Friends”. Read more. Flickr photoset.

As a relief…

At the entrance of a topiary garden (see below). Original photo.

As a topiary garden…

A topiary rendition of George Seurat's "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of la Grande Jatte" in three dimensions, created by James T. Mason. The ensemble contains eight boats, three dogs, a monkey, and fifty four figures, the tallest of which is 12 feet. They cover approximately an acre of land. Location: Deaf School Park, Columbus, OH. Read more.

As a Photoshop creation featuring Bugs Bunny…

Bugs Point, created for the Cartoon Ren contest. The challenge: It's clear that many of the great artists of the last century chose to work in the medium of cartoons. But what if they had decided to showcase their creations in classic paintings instead? In this contest, you are asked to update an old painting, swapping in a cartoon character for the original subject. See the original.

As an entry in another Photoshop contest…

Every person has become an empty shell in this Worth1000 photoshop contest entry.

As a cartoon…

More than once, cartoonist Art Spiegelman has expressed a particular fascination with Seurat's pointillist paintings. He has even suggested explicitly that his fascination with the pictorial dynamic in Seurat's work is "sort of like being interested in puns" ("Slaughter," 79). A hallucinatory sense of double vision — where borders are never clear, and are questioned and exceeded — dominates Spiegelman's concept of art. Read more.

As a children's book…

With this book, James Mayhew continues his picture-book explorations of masterpieces with this foray into the world of the Pointillists. In Katie's Sunday Afternoon, his protagonist cools off on a hot day at the museum by climbing into Georges Seurat's Bathers at Asnières. As she rests on the edge of the frame, it tilts, spilling water into the gallery. When the child hops over into Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte and invites a young girl to play with her in the gallery's rising water, the other figures are quick to follow.

Incorporated in The Picture of Everything…

Howard Hallis got bored and started doodling. Two years later he had drawn everything ever. Read more.

As artists' self-promotion…

Seurat's classic meditation on the poetics of a refined society and its cultural practices is ironically interrupted by “Los Anthropolocos” (“The Crazy Anthropologists”) posing stoically while on a “safari,” in pursuit of the fabled “Colorless Ones” (a supposedly “extinct” specious of the human race). The Chicano artists Robert J. Sanchez and Richard A. Lou (“Los Anthropolocos”) sit reflectively, with their two prized White specimens between them, as they assess and evaluate the monumental anthropological task that lies before them.. Read more.

As gift items…

Such as umbrellas, jewelry, mugs, a music box.

As a poster for a blues festival…

The organizers of the festival commissioned this painting by nationally recognized painter and sculptor Virginia Abbott to celebrate the Easton Blues Jam's second year at Riverside Park in downtown Easton. Read more.

As a children's drawing…

A Modern Sunday Afternoon with Seurat, by Megan Ward, Age 14. Grand Prize Winner at the South Middle School, Morgantown, West Virginia. Read more.

As a tattoo…

East Village denizen Anil Gupta is one of the best tattoo artists in the U.S. He’s known for his miniature reproductions of fine art. It’s sly, painting pointillism at the pinprick end of a tattoo pen. Read more.

As a Simpsons parody…

Buy the Simpsons Picnic poster here. Also available as a 1000pc jigsaw puzzle .

As a prehistoric tableau…

Primary Acrylic Micropointillism Artwork by Stephen Goodfellow. Original here.

As featured in Babar's Museum Of Art…

The book Babar's Museum of Art explains how Babar and Celeste turn an abandoned Celesteville train station into an art museum. For the story, author Laurent De Brunhoff selected 35 of his favorite artists and reinterpreted their works using elephants instead of people. Find the book .

As a necktie…

Available here.

As scarves…

Designed by Janeth Mckie. More details here.

As a musical…

Sunday in the Park with George is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical was inspired by the painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat. A complex work revolving around a fictionalized Seurat immersed in singleminded concentration while painting the masterpiece, its Broadway production was greeted with mixed praise by the critics, but it has enjoyed several major revivals, including an upcoming 2008 Broadway revival. Read more.

As arty copies…

Available as poster here.

Created by a German painter as a "homage". Source.

Created by poet/painter Charles Thomson. Source.

Created by James Rizzi. Source.

More here.

As stress relief therapy for cancer patients…

Arts in Medicine (AIM) is a unique program in operation at the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center at the LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, USA. Hospitalized cancer patients have the opportunity to paint the works of Grand Masters. The coordinating artist sketches an outline copy of a picture on canvas. This canvas is divided into twenty 12-inch grids. These are numbered to indicate what color goes where. Then volunteers take the squares and paints into patient rooms. Completed squares are combined to form the finished work which is framed and includes a plaque listing the names of those who participated. With this program, cancer patients doing art feel less stress and for the moment are relieved of the pressures of their disease. The unexpected result of this project has been the quality of the finished products as well as the joy the patients experience as they proudly pointed out their square. Read more.

As an alternative way to use Q-Tips…

Not much information is available about this one, except that Q-Tips were used to mimic Seurat's pointillism. Source.

As home decoration…

Such as switchplate covers and ceramic tiles

As cross-stitch design…

From Ladybug Designs.

As fashion items…

Get the tote here, and the dress here.

As a tourist attraction…

On the banks of the Mississippi: the presence of Seurat's paintings, figures and sculptures assist in keeping the artist culture alive in the Quad Cities. Read more. And more.

As a table…

Nothing is known about this afternoon table, except that is signed "From Daddy". Source.

Featured in a Sesame Street book…

On My Way with Sesame Street Volume 1 featured a version with Sesame Street characters called "Sunday in the Park with Big Bird." Featured in the spoof are Big Bird, Grover, Ernie, Bert, Elmo, The Amazing Mumford, Herry Monster, Cookie Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Oscar the Grouch, Little Bird, Barkley, Twiddlebugs, Grover's Mom, The Count, Prairie Dawn, Betty Lou, Rodeo Rosie and various Anything Muppets. Large picture.

Mixed with a real park beach…

Entry in a photoshop contest. Source.

On video…

Belgian singer Lara Fabian sings Adagio - in English - and makes Georges Seurat's work come to life.

'Vocalise' by Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943). Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sir Neville Marriner, conductor (6:21). The video shows the painting in detailed close-ups.

Stewie from Family Guy visits the Chicago Museum of Art, where he finds "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat. (0:52)

Almost everyone who has seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off remembers the part when Cameron Frye stands gazing at George Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte in the Art Insititute of Chicago. The camera pans back and forth between Cameron’s perplexed facial expression and the painting, although with each shot of the painting, the camera zooms in, capturing more detail. The end of the above video shows that magic moment.

As stamps…

At least two countries have used the painting on stamps. Shown here are stamps from Somalia and Rwanda.

As a jigsaw puzzle…

Find the 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle here, and the 12-piece magnetic puzzle here.

As a mural…

A former restaurant at the Mall of America called "Minnesota Picnic" featured a mural rather close in style and size to the Seurat original. Large picture.

As a poem…
A poem by Kristen Cacdac:

Silently waiting for a sign, movement, or action
Men and women
Sitting
Pondering life and other petty things
Glances struck
As whispers diffuse through the air
A ripple dances across the lake
As spectators stare in awe

And more, such as…
Museum stamps, Business cards holders, T-shirt designs, Printed fleeces, Windows wallpaper, …

Read also:
Seurat's Science

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