The Gardener

Georges Seurat, 1882–83

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Look for the worker’s bent back among the patches of yellow and green; the brushstrokes are much broader than Seurat’s later dots.

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This small painting on wood belongs to Seurat’s early interest in rural work. Its brighter colors mark his developing engagement with Impressionist painting and color theory. It offers a view of his experiments before the carefully divided touches associated with La Grande Jatte.

Oil on wood · 6 1/4 x 9 3/4 in. (15.9 x 24.8 cm · The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Impressionism

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Sources

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Gardener

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Details and source

Museum title: The Gardener
Artist: Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris)
Date: 1882–83
Medium: Oil on wood
Dimensions: 6 1/4 x 9 3/4 in. (15.9 x 24.8 cm)
Credit line: Bequest of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot (1876-1967), 1967
Image license: CC0 1.0 · Public domain
Museum record: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Artist’s life 1859–1891

Impressionism c. 1860–1900

View in the Atlas

Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.