The Seine with Clothing on the Bank (Study for "Bathers at Asnières")

1883/1884

Georges Seurat

Associated Names
Georges Seurat

Artist, French, 1859 - 1891

This painting depicts a scene by the water. Closest to us, a pile of objects sits on a grassy bank. The objects are indistinct, but there appears to be a white bundle with a gold-and-black object perched on it, surrounded by smaller round brown lumps. The green, grassy slope stretches off along the left, and it has a rectangular yellow section. On the right is a river or body of water painted in light blue with lines of green, red, and tan overlapping across the surface. In the distance, a large pale bridge stretches over the water, with vertical lines that look like smokestacks in the distance. Pale pink and purple smoke drifts up from one of them. On the left, tall, dark green trees surround light shapes that may be buildings. The sky is light blue-green. The brushstrokes in the painting are thick and visible, blending color and the edges between shapes, making details hard to identify.

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Artwork overview

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New York Times art critic Aruna D’Souza discusses the work of painter Georges Seurat.

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Bernheim-Jeune, Paris). (Alex Reid & Lefevre, London). (De Hauke & Co., New York) on joint account with (Percy Moore Turner [c. 1877-1950], London), by 1930; (Jacques Seligmann & Co., Paris and New York), until 1935.[1] William A. Cargill [d. 1962], Carruth, Bridge of Weir, Scotland; (his estate sale, Sotheby's, London, 11 June 1963, no. 44); purchased by (Acciarri) for (Hector Brame, Paris) for Paul Mellon [1907-1999], Upperville, Virginia; bequest 1999 to NGA, with life interest to his wife, Rachel Lambert Mellon [1910-2014].
[1] See letter dated 17 June 1930 from Percy Moore Turner, De Hauke and Co. (Jacques Seligmann & Co. Papers, Archives of American Art, Washington, D.C., Box 398, folder 20; copy in NGA curatorial files). De Hauke & Co., a subsidiary to Seligmann, was dissolved shortly thereafter and its stock absorbed into Jacques Seligmann & Co, which sold their half of the painting to Turner in 1935. See Jacques Seligmann & Co. Papers, Archives of American Art, Box 96, folder 23 (copies in NGA curatorial files).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1930

  • Vincent van Gogh en zijn Tijdgenooden, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1930, no. 272.

1966

  • French Paintings from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and Mrs. Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, no. 144, repro.

Bibliography

1959

  • Dorra, Henri, and John Rewald. Seurat, l'oeuvre peint, biographie et catalogue critique. Paris, 1959: 89, no. 90, repro.

1991

  • Grenier, Catherine. Seurat: Catalogue complet des peintures. Paris, 1991: 58, no. 93, repro.

2014

  • Kelly, Franklin. "A Lasting Legacy: The Completion of an Unparalleled Gift." National Gallery of Art Bulletin no. 51 (Fall 2014): 12, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20189658

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