Seurat's Masterpiece: A Sunday on La Grand Jatte - 1884
What makes Georges Seurat's masterpiece 'A Sunday on La Grande Jatte' so revolutionary? Where did he get the idea for his celebrated dots? What does the picture mean? And why did it become so famous? Join Alastair and James as they explore the mysteries of one of the most beguiling paintings in the history of art.
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Artworks in this episode: Georges Seurat, A Sunday on La Grand Jatte - 1884, 1884-86, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Georges Seurat, Bathers at Asnières 1884, The National Gallery, London Georges Seurat, The Diner, 1883-84, Private Collection Georges Seurat, Embroidery; The Artist's Mother, 1882-83, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, La Grande Odalisque, 1814, Musée du Louvre, Paris Eugène Delacroix, Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, 1854-61, Saint-Sulpice, Paris Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes, The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, c.1869, The National Gallery, London Georges Seurat, Madame Seurat, the Artist's Mother, 1882-83, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles Georges Seurat, House at Dusk (La Cité), 1881-82, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Georges Seurat, Aman-Jean (Portrait of Edmond François Aman-Jean), 1882-83, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Georges Seurat, Seated Boy with Straw Hat, study for Bathers at Asnières, 1883-84, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven Georges Seurat, Bathers (Study for "Bathers at Asnières"), 1883-84, National Gallery of Art, Washington D. C. Georges Seurat, Horse and Boats (Study for "Bathers at Asnières"), 1883-84, National Gallery of Art, Washington D. C. Georges Seurat, Boy from Behind, c.1893, Private Collection Arnold Böcklin, Isle of the Dead, 1880, Kunstmuseum, Basel Georges Seurat, The Couple: Study for La Grande Jatte, 1884, The British Museum, London Georges Seurat, La Grande Jatte, 1884, Private Collection Georges Seurat, Monkey, 1884, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Georges Seurat, The Channel at Gravelines, Evening, 1890, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Recommended Reading: Alastair Sooke, Seurat: Bathers at Asnieres, 2025 Robert Herbert, Seurat: 1859-1891, 1991 Karen Serres, Seurat and the Sea, 2026 Links Follow Stories of Art on Instagram: @storiesofart.heni For more great art content visit www.heni.com or visit the Heni Talks YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@HENITalks
Dr James Fox is a Cambridge art historian, bestselling author and multi award-winning broadcaster. He is Director of Studies in History of Art at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Creative Director of the Hugo Burge Foundation. His critically-acclaimed books on art and culture have been translated into fourteen languages. His most recent title and best-seller Craftland: a journey through Britain’s Lost Arts and Vanishing Trades (2025) has been named Waterstones Book of the Year, BBC’s book of the week and shortlisted for the Nero Book Prize. James is perhaps best known for his many arts documentaries for the BBC, including A History of Art in Three Colours, The Art of Japanese Life The Age of the Image and Nature and Us: a history through Art
Alastair Sooke is an author and broadcaster, and chief art critic at The Telegraph, for which he has been covering art since 2003. He has presented more than 60 hours of television and radio for the BBC (Modern Masters, Treasures of Ancient Egypt, An Art Lovers’ Guide) and written several books, including studies of Henri Matisse and Georges Seurat, and a history of Pop art. He is a trustee of The Ampersand Foundation and was educated at the University of Oxford and the Courtauld Institute of Art.
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