A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884) by Georges Seurat. Its palette is led by graphite (#384442, 17%) and light lime yellow (#c1b665, 15%), with accents of muted azure blue, pale grey, muted lime green and reddish brown. Overall the canvas is light, moderately saturated and warm.

Color notes

Among Seurat's dots is zinc yellow, which has darkened toward brown. He added the painted border of dots a few years after finishing the picture.

Seurat set small dots of unmixed color side by side so they blend in the eye, a method drawn from the color science of Chevreul and Rood. Some of his yellows were zinc yellow, which has since darkened.

Palette

#384442 MG 218 graphite 17.2% of canvas
#c1b665 MG 043 light lime yellow 15.5% of canvas
#435a4b MG 058 muted green 13.9% of canvas
#504c5c MG 210 slate 13.7% of canvas
#838097 MG 095 muted azure blue 12.6% of canvas
#bbc4c8 MG 212 pale grey 11.3% of canvas
#6d824e MG 057 muted lime green 9.5% of canvas
#ac7864 MG 152 reddish brown 6.5% of canvas

Color families

Gray 30%, Green 17%, Yellow 15%, Brown 14%, Blue 14%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.56
Contrast: 0.48
Vividness: 0.047
Warmth: +0.41
Complexity: 202 cells
Hue range: 0.80
Focus: 0.09

Composition

59% of the visual weight is in the left half, 60% in the upper half. Symmetry 0.68 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 11% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 34% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 1884
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 207.5 × 308.1 cm
Genre: history painting
Made in: France
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

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