CHICAGO, July 1 (UPI) -- Georges Seurat's "A Sunday on La Grand Jatte" is the centerpiece of a major exhibition of the French Pointillist painter now on at the Art Institute of Chicago.
The show that opened this week includes 130 paintings and works on paper by Seurat (1859-1891), including 40 preliminary works related to the 7-by-10 foot "La Grande Jatte," the institute's most renown artwork. It depicts a scene on a popular excursion island in the Seine River near Paris. The show examines the conception, evolution, and history of the painting which inspired Stephen Sondheim's Broadway musical "Sunday in the Park with George," and its impact on the museum, Chicago, and the history of modernism in art.
There also are a few works by artists Seurat admired including Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and the rival Pointillist Paul Signac.
"La Grand Jatte" has been reglazed and reframed for the exhibit that requires separate ticketing in addition to the museum entry fee.
