Georges Seurat (1859–1891)
1885
Oil paint on canvas
Grandcamp, summer 1885
Georges Seurat positioned himself at shore level in Grandcamp to represent boats passing by a roadstead, or sheltered area of coastline. Their uniform hulls and sails indicate that they are probably not fishing vessels but racing sailboats taking part in a regatta. This subject matter might have been influenced by similar paintings by Claude Monet who depicted summer leisure activities on the Channel.
When Seurat’s Grandcamp paintings were unveiled in Paris in 1886, critics praised their sense of calm and ‘penetrating melancholy’, as well as the accuracy with which Seurat rendered the subtle light of the Channel coast.