Four Boats at Grandcamp (Quatre bateaux à Grandcamp)

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

Seurat spent the summer of 1885 in the small fishing commune of Grandcamp-Maisy, painting the English Channel from varying vantage points of cliff, port, and shore. Like other members of the Parisian avant-garde, Seurat was grappling with how to build upon the innovations of the long-reigning impressionist movement; one fruitful method of exploration involved the systematic application of complementary colors, informed by current optical theory. While the boats in this study appear to be without sails, the thin application of paint hints at their white outlines. Overall, the effect is of a windless day where the deep sand tones of the beach seem to anchor the boats to land.

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