Study for “Bathers at Asnières”

Young men and boys lounge on the bank of the Seine at Asnières, their figures and the water behind them built from small touches of pure colour in this compact oil sketch. Georges Seurat made the study in preparation for his monumental Bathers at Asnières, the canvas exhibited in 1884 that announced the new method of painting in small dots of colour, and the panel preserves the composition in its early, quieter state. It shows the young painter working out the calm geometry of riverbank, figures and water that the larger canvas would develop into one of the manifestos of modern painting.