Seated Woman with a Parasol

As we mentioned yesterday, during 1884 and 1885, Georges Seurat was hard at work on the most ambitious painting of his career,A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. The artist’s genesis of this large canvas involved many preparatory studies which fall primarily into two groups: small compositional sketches and color studies on wooden panels, and nuanced Conté crayon drawings that explore both the empty landscape and the shapes of specific figures or figural groups. In this contemplative drawing, Seurat developed the expressive contours of the seated female figure holding a parasol that would ultimately occupy the center of the finished painting. If you compare today's sketch to yesterday’s oil study, you will see Seurat's great ability to catch the moment and sense the mood of the scene.