The Seine with Clothing on the Bank (Study for "Bathers at Asnières")

Georges Seurat

National Gallery of Art

This painting depicts a scene by the water. Closest to us, a pile of objects sits on a grassy bank. The objects are indistinct, but there appears to be a white bundle with a gold-and-black object perched on it, surrounded by smaller round brown lumps. The green, grassy slope stretches off along the left, and it has a rectangular yellow section. On the right is a river or body of water painted in light blue with lines of green, red, and tan overlapping across the surface. In the distance, a large pale bridge stretches over the water, with vertical lines that look like smokestacks in the distance. Pale pink and purple smoke drifts up from one of them. On the left, tall, dark green trees surround light shapes that may be buildings. The sky is light blue-green. The brushstrokes in the painting are thick and visible, blending color and the edges between shapes, making details hard to identify.