Seurat's Masterpiece: A Sunday on La Grand Jatte - 1884

What makes Georges Seurat's masterpiece 'A Sunday on La Grande Jatte -1884' so revolutionary? What does the picture mean? And why did it become so famous? Join Alastair and James as they explore the mysteries of one of the most beguiling paintings in the history of art. 

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Artworks in this episode:

Georges Seurat, A Sunday on La Grand Jatte - 1884, 1884-86, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Georges Seurat, Bathers at Asnières 1884, The National Gallery, London
Georges Seurat, The Diner, 1883-84, Private Collection
Georges Seurat, Embroidery; The Artist's Mother, 1882-83, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, La Grande Odalisque, 1814, Musée du Louvre, Paris
Eugène Delacroix, Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, 1854-61, Saint-Sulpice, Paris
Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes, The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, c.1869, The National Gallery, London
Georges Seurat, Madame Seurat, the Artist's Mother, 1882-83, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Georges Seurat, House at Dusk (La Cité), 1881-82, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Georges Seurat, Aman-Jean (Portrait of Edmond François Aman-Jean), 1882-83, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Georges Seurat, Seated Boy with Straw Hat, study for Bathers at Asnières, 1883-84, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven
Georges Seurat, Bathers (Study for "Bathers at Asnières"), 1883-84, National Gallery of Art, Washington D. C.
Georges Seurat, Horse and Boats (Study for "Bathers at Asnières"), 1883-84, National Gallery of Art, Washington D. C.
Georges Seurat, Boy from Behind, c.1893, Private Collection
Arnold Böcklin, Isle of the Dead, 1880, Kunstmuseum, Basel
Georges Seurat, The Couple: Study for La Grande Jatte, 1884, The British Museum, London
Georges Seurat, La Grande Jatte, 1884, Private Collection
Georges Seurat, Monkey, 1884, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Georges Seurat, The Channel at Gravelines, Evening, 1890, Museum of Modern Art, New York

Recommended Reading:
Alastair Sooke, Seurat: Bathers at Asnieres, 2025
Robert Herbert, Seurat: 1859-1891, 1991
Karen Serres, Seurat and the Sea, 2026

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Hosts: Alastair Sooke and Dr James Fox
Additional Research: Catherine Ingram
Social Producer: Grace Dewar
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