Georges Seurat
Around 1884
Oil paint on wood
24 x 17.6 cm
This quick depiction of a boatman belongs to a group of studies that Georges Seurat made along the banks of the Seine on the outskirts of Paris. In these sketches, he experimented freely with different types of brush marks, uses of colour and levels of finish. Particularly striking here are the thick white brushstrokes used to create highlights on the bank of the river and the surface of the water. They confer great luminosity to the composition.