Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
by George Seurat
A point of view by Kenneth Lyen
Fig1. A Sunday afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by George Seurat (original)
I was attending a medical conference in Chicago when my research boss brought me to the Art Institute of Chicago to see George Seurat (1859-1891) painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte", painted in 1884. When I entered the room where the painting hung, several features struck me. First, I was taken aback by the size of the painting... it is really huge, measuring 7 feet by 10 feet. It was taller than me! Secondly when I got nearer to the picture, I realised it was composed of individual little dots (pointillism). Thirdly, as I got even nearer to the painting, the dots started to shimmer. In fact all the figures in the picture seemed to move with this scintillation. I then understood why this painting was considered by so many to be a really incredible masterpiece. It is well worth going to Chicago to see this painting!
Fig 2. Sunday in the Park with George, the musical
Then when I was in London I watched the stage performance of Stephen Sondheim's musical starring Bernadette Peters, "Sunday in the Park with George" based on this painting. Both the painting and the musical blew my mind!!
Fig 3. Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Singapore by Eugene Soh
When someone recently posted Eugene Soh’s “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Singapore”, I went back to look at the image of the original George Seurat’s painting. Indeed there are many similarities, but there are also some interesting differences: both pictures depict people taking a break at a grassy area looking out onto a tranquil lake. The number of major figures are about the same, and the number sitting and standing match reasonably well. The two dogs and the monkey are almost identical. But Eugene Soh’s painting has something extra that you really must see… it moves:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7dEJUXnEgjfpSpcM8mV_aIQn28D5m9EYYOp4M0/ Wow!
My only other comments that I would make of Eugene Soh’s painting is that the colours are less vibrant than the original George Seurat painting, and he only has a couple of Singaporeans looking at their handphones and laptop. Compare this with another modern Sunday Afternoon painting by Matt Wuerker where he has many of the recreation people, including the monkey, looking at their electronic devices.
Fig 4. La Grande Jatte by Matt Wuerker
It is quite incredible that there are so many parodies of Seurat’s painting. The American mockumentary sitcom television series, “The Office” is an ideal program to lampoon this picture.
Fig 5. The Office Sunday Afternoon
Then there is a painting by Ben Wiseman set in New York showing the Brooklyn Bridge:
Fig 6. Sunday in the Park, New York showing the Brooklyn Bridge by Ben Wiseman
Simon Kay has another version of the Grande Jatte:
Fig 7. Grande Jatte by Simon Kay
Max Bernardi made a poster of Sunday in the Park at the Fly:
Fig 8. Sunday in the Park at the Fly by Max Bernardi (poster)
We would not be complete without including attempts by the cartoon characters, the Muppets:
Fig 9. Sunday in the Park with the Muppets
And not to be outdone, here are the Simpsons:
Fig 10. Sunday in the Park with the Simpsons
What is sad is that George Seurat died at the age of 32. We are not sure what was the cause of death, but it speculated to be a severe infection, possibly meningitis. His 2-year-old son died 2 weeks later of the same infection.
Not only did Eugene Soh animate Sunday on the Island of Singapore, other people have also animated the original Seurat painting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUZGqkfUJtI
Seurat's influence on art has been monumental and he will not be forgotten.
References:
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Guae_aE57Qg
The Story behind Great Paintings: Georges Seurat - Sunday on the Grande Jatte
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omHaPvcse-s
Written by Kenneth Lyen
4 November 2021
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