![Georges Seurat - Gray Weather, Grande Jatte [c.1886-88]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8895/17169247717_931ba911d6_o.jpg)
Seurat's tranquil and luminous view extends from the island of La Grande Jatte, framed by trees, to the red-roofed houses of the Parisian suburb of Asnières, or Courbevoie, across the Seine. The work, along with two related paintings of 1886–88, may be seen as a glorious postscript to the artist's ambitious compositions celebrating this stretch of the Seine.
Returning to the riverbanks to paint landscape motifs, Seurat sought "to transcribe most exactly the vivid outdoor clarity [of nature] in all its nuances" using a technique known as Divisionism (also called Pointillism). The overall effect was enhanced by the painted border, added shortly before the picture was first exhibited in 1889.
[Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York - Oil on canvas, 70.5 x 86.4 cm]