Study for ‘The Channel of Gravelines: An Evening’

Georges Seurat (1859–1891)

1890

Oil paint on wood panel

This refined preparatory sketch for the large painting on the adjacent wall (number 18) shows how Georges Seurat settled on its final composition, buttressed by the dark lamp post on the left and the sweep of the quay in the foreground, where the channel widens. The balance is strongly tilted to the left by the tall tide signal mast and the block of the signal station below. Seurat would adjust this in the finished work with the addition of two large anchors and a sailboat to the right.

Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne / Centre de création industrielle, Paris
On long-term loan to Musée de l’Annonciade, Saint-Tropez Bequest of George Grammont