Horses in the Water

Georges Seurat

Around 1883

Oil paint on wood

15.2 x 24.8 cm

This study, which relates to Bathers at Asnières (National Gallery, London), shows an early version of the composition that Georges Seurat ultimately abandoned. Although he retained the general outline and slope of the riverbank in the finished painting, as well as the distant factories, he replaced the horses with two bathing boys, one of whom wears the red trunks seen on the rider in the foreground in this sketch.

Formerly in the collection of Samuel Courtauld On long-term loan from a private collection

Photo Ⓒ The Courtauld