Georges Seurat (1859–1891)
1886
Oil paint on wood panel
Honfleur, summer 1886
In this small oil sketch made on the beach in Honfleur, Georges Seurat captured the main elements that would form the composition of the related finished canvas, displayed on the adjacent wall to the left (number 7). He deftly translated the subtle effects of light in a myriad of little dots and dashes of blue, green, umber and white. Each colour appears in the different parts of the painting in varying intensities, harmonising the scene as a whole. In the final painting, Seurat created a greater sense of depth by replacing the single sailboat in this sketch with two smaller ones that draw the eye further into the distance.