Clothes on the Grass—Study for Bathers at Asnières Mug – Georges Seurat

About this piece

Clothes on the Grass is a small oil study Georges Seurat painted in 1883 while planning his larger Bathers at Asnières. Instead of presenting a finished scene, it shows the artist experimenting with the broad relationships among river, grass, distant bank, and the small objects resting near the water. The grassy areas and sky are described in loose strokes, while the river receives more deliberate horizontal marks that suggest reflections and shifting daylight. Seurat made a substantial group of related studies, testing different viewpoints before settling on the final large canvas.