# Trees (study for La Grande Jatte)

**Georges Seurat** (French, 1859–1891)  
1884  
Black Conté crayon, on white laid paper, laid down on cream board  
62 × 47.5 cm (24 7/16 × 18 3/4 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1966.184. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/154022).

## About this work

Seurat drew these trees in black Conté crayon, a waxy chalk that catches on the raised grain of textured paper and leaves the hollows white, so that forms seem to emerge from a soft, glowing darkness rather than from outlines. The sheet is a study for his monumental painting A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884, in the same collection, for which he made many drawings of individual figures, animals and trees. Here he concentrates on masses of light and shadow, the tonal structure that underpins the finished picture.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Georges Seurat painted this in 1884, aged 25. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of black conté crayon, on white laid paper, laid down on cream board.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Laid paper.** Handmade on a mould of close-set wires, which leave fine parallel lines you can see when the sheet is held to the light.

### [Georges Seurat](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/georges-seurat)

French, 1859–1891; born in Paris; died in Paris

Seurat trained at the École des Beaux-Arts and studied the colour theories of Chevreul and others before developing pointillism, building pictures from small, separate touches of pure colour meant to combine in the eye. His large compositions, planned through many drawings and oil sketches, include Bathers at Asnières and A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884, shown at the last Impressionist exhibition in 1886. His black conté crayon drawings are equally distinctive. He died suddenly at thirty-one.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Drawing and Watercolor
- Culture: France
- The artist was 25
- Real size: about 24 × 19 in (62 × 47 cm). The 18 × 24 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Post-Impressionism](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/post-impressionism)
- Subjects: study, landscapes, Post-Impressionism
- Colour: white
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/336.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/336/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/trees-study-for-la-grande-jatte-aic-154022).