Entrance of The Port of Honfleur (Entrée du port d'Honfleur)

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

This work is currently on loan to the exhibition "Seurat and the Sea" at The Courtauld Gallery, London, February 13 – May 17, 2026 Seurat depicts the port of Honfleur, located at the mouth of the Seine on France's Atlantic coast. Utilizing the pointillist technique, he instills the busy port with an unexpected sense of stillness. Logically, the large ship and sailboat at center should both be traveling forward, given the steam trailing into the sky and the unfurled sails, but neither seems to move. The composition is further anchored by the inclusion of a cruciform mooring post, whose stark shadow suggests the work was painted in the early afternoon.

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