Seurat: Sunday on the Grande Jatte

Georges Seurat's masterpiece is among the most recognisable and frequently reproduced paintings in the world. First exhibited in 1886, La Grande Jatte is a visual manifesto that became a landmark in the development of modern painting. It has been enjoyed by millions since it entered the Art Institute's collection in 1924. In 2004, The Art Institute of Chicago opened a major exhibition to celebrate and shed new light on this iconic painting, featuring preparatory paintings and drawings to trace its evolutionary process. Seurat was not trying to re-create nature in paint, he wanted to produce images of modern life that would be as powerful and permanent as the pictures in the Louvre. The many preparatory studies, some of which were never used in the final composition, attest to the artist's ambitions, and Scala's unique 4-fold format creates a visually exciting presentation of the many intricate details.