This tranquil portrait of the artist’s mother, Ernestine Faivre, is a tour de force of modeling in Conté crayon, Seurat’s favorite graphic medium. The work is drawn entirely without line in tonal passages of velvety black. Scarce atmospheric light, subtly evoked by lessening pressure on the crayon, illuminates the interior where the woman sews, creating a serene ambiance of quiet domesticity. The abstract beauty achieved in such works earned the praise of fellow artist Paul Signac, who called them "the most beautiful painter’s drawings that ever existed."
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Artwork Details
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Title:Embroidery; The Artist's Mother
Artist:Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris)
Date:1882–83
Medium:Conté crayon on Michallet paper
Dimensions:12 5/16 x 9 7/16 in. (31.2 x 24.1 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1951; acquired from The Museum of Modern Art, Lillie P. Bliss Collection
Object Number:55.21.1
Broderie
La Brodeuse
Woman Sewing
La Mère de Seurat
La Mère de l'Artiste
Portrait de Madame Seurat
Mme Ernestine Seurat (French)until at least 1892 and probably until 1899; Emile Seurat (French)the artist's brother, until his death in 1906; Mme veuve Emile Seurat (French)from 1906; Félix Fénéon (French)by 1926, until 1929; De Hauke & Co., New York (American), for Jacques Seligmann & Co., Jan - Oct 1929[stock no. 1329]; Lizzie Plummer Bliss (American), Oct. 1929 until her death in 1931; Bliss Bequest to the Museum of Modern Art, New York, until purchase by MMA in 1951
Bernheim-Jeune et Cie, Paris. "Exposition Georges Seurat (1859-1891), 1908-09," December 14, 1908–January 9, 1909.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Memorial Exhibition: The Collection of the Late Miss Lillie P. Bliss," May 17, 1931–September 27, 1931.
Andover, Mass. Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy. "Memorial Exhibition: The Collection of the Late Miss Lillie P. Bliss," October 17, 1931–December 15, 1931.
Indianapolis Museum of Art. "Memorial Exhibition: The Collection of the Late Miss Lillie P. Bliss," January 1932.
Pittsburgh. Carnegie Institute. "Paintings, Drawings and Watercolors from the Lillie P. Bliss Collection," March 13, 1935–April 10, 1935.
Buchholz Gallery, New York. "Seurat : His Drawings," March 4, 1947–March 29, 1947.
Wildenstein & Co., Inc. "Six Masters of Post-Impressionism : Cézanne, Gauguin, Seurat, Lautrec, Rousseau, van Gogh," April 8, 1948–May 8, 1948.
Knoedler and Co. "Seurat, 1859-1891: Paintings and Drawings," April 19, 1949–May 7, 1949.
Wildenstein & Co., Inc. "A Loan Exhibition of Seurat and His Friends," November 18, 1953–December 26, 1953.
Musée de l'Orangerie. "De David à Toulouse-Lautrec : Chefs-d'oeuvre des collections américaines," April 20, 1955–July 5, 1955.
Paris. Cabinet des dessins, Musée du Louvre. "Dessins français du Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York de David à Picasso," October 25, 1973–January 7, 1974.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Seurat: Drawings and Oil Sketches from New York Collections," September 29–November 27, 1977.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Nineteenth Century French Drawings and Prints," June 23–August 23, 1981.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Georges Seurat, 1859–1891," September 24, 1991–January 12, 1992.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," November 27, 1995–February 25, 1996.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," January 6–April 13, 1997.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Neo-Impressionism: The Circle of Paul Signac," October 2–December 30, 2001.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Georges Seurat: The Drawings," October 9, 2007–January 7, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," April 12–July 18, 2016.
Vienna. Albertina. "Seurat, Signac, Van Gogh. Ways of Pointillism," September 16, 2016–January 8, 2017.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selections from the Department of Drawings and Prints: Anniversary Highlights," October 8, 2020–January 18, 2021.
de Hauke 582; Paris-New York 1991, no. 32
"Premiére exposition des Artistes Indépendants." in Le Voltaire. Paris, December 10, 1884.
Société des artistes indépendants, 8me exposition. Exh. cat., Paris, Pavillon de la Ville de Paris, 19 March - 27 April 1892. Société des Artistes Indépendants, Paris, 1892, cat. no. 1118.
"[Notice]" in La Revue Encyclopédique. La Revue Encyclopédique, Paris, 1892, p. 1104, ill.
Exposition Georges Seurat (1859-1891) Exh. cat., Paris, Galeries Bernheim-Jeune, 14 December 1908 - 9 January 1909. Bernheim-Jeune et Cie, Paris, Paris, 1908.
Paul Signac Exposition Georges Seurat (1859-1891) Exh. cat., Paris, Galeries Bernheim-Jeune, 15-31 January 1920. Paris, 1920, cat. no. 62.
Gustave Coquiot Georges Seurat. Albin Michel, Paris, 1924, pp. 135, 139, 24.
Henri Focillon "Les Salons de 1926 : trente ans d'art indépendant." La Gazette des Beaux-Arts. May,. Paris, May 1926, p. 259, ill.
Félix Fénéon "Sur Georges Seurat." Bulletin de la vie artistique. Bernheim-Jeune et Cie, Paris, 7e Année, no. 22, Paris, November 15, 1926, p. 347, ill.
Lucie Cousturier Les Dessins de Georges Seurat Exh. cat., Paris, Galeries Bernheim-Jeune, 29 November - 24 December 1926. Bernheim-Jeune et Cie, Paris, Paris, 1926, cat. no. 79, ill.
Société des artistes indépendants : Trente ans d'art indépendant, 1884-1914 Exh. cat., Paris, Grand Palais, 20 February - 21 March 1926. Société des Artistes Indépendants, Paris, 1926, cat. no. 3221.
Florent Fels "Les dessins de Seurat." l'Amour de l'Art. vol. 8, February,. Paris, 1927, pp. 45-46.
Arsène Alexandre "Portraits et figures de femmes, Ingres à Picasso: Exposition faite à La Renaissance du 1er au 30 juin 1928 au profit de la société des Amis du Musée du Luxembourg." La Renaissance de l'art. vol. 11, no. 7, Paris and New York, July 1928, fig. no. 163, pp. 264, 276, ill.
Gustave Kahn Les Dessins de Georges Seurat (1859-1891) [2 portfolios of reproductions]. Bernheim-Jeune et Cie, Paris, vol. 2, Paris, 1928, fig. no. pl. 63, ill.
Portraits et figures de femmes: Ingres à Picasso Exh. cat., Paris, A La Renaissance Gallery, 1-30 June 1928. Galerie de la Renaissance, Paris, Paris, 1928, cat. no. 163, p. 25.
"Modern Art Museum Opens in New York: Exhibition of Paintings by Cézanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh and Seurat, lent by European and American Collectors, Museums and Dealers" Art News. S. W. Frankel, vol. XXVIII, no. 6, New York, November 9, 1929, pp. 17, 18, ill.
Cézanne, Gauguin, Seurat, Van Gogh : First Loan Exhibition. Exh. cat., 7 November - 7 December. Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, 1929, cat. no. 71, p. 46, ill.
Fourth Loan Exhibition: The Collection of Miss Lillie P. Bliss. Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., 1931, cat. no. 110.
Memorial Exhibition: The Collection of the Late Miss Lizzie P. Bliss. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1931, cat. no. 136, ill.
Robert Rey La renaissance du sentiment classique dans la peinture française à la fin du XIXe siècle : Degas - Renoir - Gauguin - Cézanne - Seurat. G. van Oest, Paris, 1931, pp. 115-116, 140, 145., p. 106, ill.
Alfred H. Barr Jr. Modern Masters from the Collection of Miss Lizzie P. Bliss Exh. cat., Indianapolis, John Herron Art Institute, 1-31 January 1932. John Herron Art Institute, 1932, cat. no. 105.
The Lillie P. Bliss Collection. Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, 1934, cat. no. 62, ill.
Watercolors and Drawings from the Lillie P. Bliss Collection. Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago, 1935, cat. no. 15.
An Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, and Watercolors from the Lillie P. Bliss Collection. Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1935, cat. no. 32.
Twenty-Four Paintings and Drawings by Georges-Pierre Seurat Exh. cat., Chicago, Renaissance Society, 5 - 25 February 1935. Edited by Daniel Catton Rich, Chicago, 1935, cat. no. 10.
Exposition Seurat Exh. cat., Paris, Galerie Paul Rosenberg, 3 - 29 February 1936. Galerie Paul Rosenberg, Paris, Paris, 1936, cat. no. 96 bis.
Reginald Howard Wilenski Modern French Painters. Reynal & Hitchcock, New York, 1940, pp. 68, 349.
Robert J. Goldwater "Some Aspects of the Developement of Seurat's Style." Art Bulletin. College Art Association America, vol. 23, no. 2, New York, June 1941, p. 124.
John Rewald, Lionel Abel Georges Seurat. Wittenborn and Co., La Jeune Parque, 1st; subsequent editions in 1946 and 1990. New York, 1943, fig. no. 36, xiii, pp. 53, 56, ill.
Art News "Current Classics in Contrast." Art News. vol. 45, no. 13, New York, March 1947, pp. 20-21, ill.
Curt Valentin Gallery Seurat: His Drawings Exh. cat., New York, Buchholz Gallery, 4-29 March 1947, coinciding with the publication of Germain Seligman, 'The Drawings of Georges Seurat'. New York, 1947, cat. no. 22.
Germain Seligman The Drawings of Georges Seurat. Curt Valentin Gallery, New York, 1947, cat. no. 43, fig. no. pl. XXXII, pp. 21, 39, 73, ill.
Alfred H. Barr Jr. Drawings in the Museum of Modern Art. Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, 1948, cat. no. 201, p. 12, ill.
John Rewald Georges Seurat. Albin Michel, 1st French edition; English editions published 1943 & 1946. 1948, fig. no. 84, p. 109, ill.
Six Masters of Post-Impressionism: Cézanne, Gauguin, Seurat, Lautrec, Rousseau, van Gogh. Exh. cat., 8 April - 8 May. Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York, 1948, cat. no. 56.
Seurat, 1859-1891 : Paintings and Drawings. Exh. cat., 19 April - 7 May. Knoedler and Co., New York, 1949, cat. no. 35, ill.
Dr. Stephen Pepper Principles of Art Appreciation. Harcourt, Brace and Co., New York, 1949, fig. no. pl. IXa, ill.
Reginald Howard Wilenski Seurat. Faber and Faber, London, 1949, p. 2.
Regina Shoolman, Charles E. Slatkin Six Centuries of French Master Drawings in America. Oxford University Press, New York, 1950, fig. no. pl. 125, p. 222, ill.
John Rewald, The Gallery Press A Loan Exhibition of Seurat and his Friends. Exh. cat., 18 November - 26 December. Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York, 1953, cat. no. 26, p. 24.
Claude Roger-Marx Maîtres du XIX Siècle et du XXe. Pierre Cailleur, Collection Les Problèmes de l'Art, Geneva, 1954, p. 157.
De David à Toulouse-Lautrec: Chefs-D'Oeuvre des Collections Américaines Exh. cat., 20 April - 5 June. Musée de l'Orangerie , Paris, Paris, 1955, cat. no. 90, fig. no. pl. 91, ill.
Robert L. Herbert Seurat: Paintings and Drawings Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago, 16 January - 7 March 1958, and New York, The Museum of Modern Art, 24 March - 11 May 1958. Edited by Daniel Catton Rich, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 1958, cat. no. 52, pp. 23, 28, 43, ill.
Robert L. Herbert "Seurat in Chicago and New York." Burlington Magazine. vol. 100, no. 662, May 1958, p. 149.
William I. Homer "Seurat's Formative Period: 1880-1884." Connoisseur. vol. 142, no. 571, New York, August-September 1958, fig. no. 4, pp. 58, 59, 60, ill.
Henri Dorra, John Rewald Seurat: L'oeuvre peint; biographie et catalogue critique. Les Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1959, fig. no. 12, pp. XXXVIII, XLI, ill.
Joseph-Emile Muller Seurat : Dessins. Fernand Hazan, Paris, 1960, Third page (unnumbered text), fig. no. pl. 10, ill.
César de Hauke Seurat et son oeuvre. vol. 2, Paris, 1961, also p.295, cat. no. 582, pp. 160-161, 248, ill.
Robert L. Herbert Seurat's Drawings. Shorewood Atelier, New York, 1962, p. 174 (catalogue entry), cat. no. 2, pp. 8, 9, 44, 59, ill.
Jacob Bean 100 European Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: New York Graphic Society, 1964, cat. no. 77, ill.
John Russell Seurat. Oxford University Press, New York and Toronto, 1965, fig. no. 8, pp. 19, 96, ill.
Henri Perruchot La Vie de Seurat. Hachette et Cie., Paris, 1966, p. 31.
Pierre Courthion, Norbert Guterman Georges Seurat. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., The Library of Great Painters, New York, 1968, pp. 13, 46, 49, ill.
Jean Sutter, Robert L. Herbert, Isabelle Compin, Pierre Angrand, Lily Bazalgette, Alan Fern, Pierre Eberhart, Francine-Claire Legrand, Henri Thévenin, Marie-Jeanne Chartrain-Hebbelinck Les Néo-Impressionnistes. Bibliothèque des Arts, Paris, 1970, p. 14.
Hideji Takashima Ed. Manet, Claude Monet, Seurat. Holp Shuppan, Holp 'World Famous Paintings' series, Tokyo, 1970, Section 6, ill.
Gustave Kahn, Stanley Appelbaum The Drawings of Georges Seurat [Translation and reprint of 'Les Dessins de Georges Seurat', Paris, 1928]. Dover Books, New York, 1971, fig. no. 83, ix, ill.
Louis Hautecoeur Georges Seurat. Fratelli Fabbri Editori, Milan, 1972, pp. 18, 22.
Fiorella Minervino, André Chastel L'opera completa di Seurat. Rizzoli, See also French edition, 'Tout l'oeuvre peint de Seurat', Italian. Milan, 1972, cat. no. D150, pp. 112, 114, 11, ill.
Fiorella Minervino, André Chastel Tout l'oeuvre peint de Seurat. Ernest Flammarion, See also Italian edition, 'L'opera complete di Seurat', French. Paris, 1972, cat. no. D150, pp. 112, 114, 11, ill.
Mitsuhiko Kuroe Pissarro–Sisley–Seurat. Shueisha, Japan, 1973, fig. no. 4, p. 99, ill.
Jacob Bean, Linda Boyer Gillies, Cynthia Lambros, Roseline Bacou, Réunion des Musées Nationaux Dessins français du Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: de David à Picasso 54th Exposition de Cabinet des Dessins Musée du Louvre, 25 octobre 1973–7 janvier 1974. Paris, 1973, cat. no. 86, fig. no. 75, pp. 64, 145.
Hideji Takashima P. Cézanne, Seurat. Holp Shuppan, Tokyo, 1973, Section 8.
Antoine Terrasse l'Univers de Seurat. Henri Scrépel, Paris, 1976, p. 52, ill.
Jacob Bean Seurat, Drawings and Oil Sketches from New York Collections. Exh. cat.: September 29 - November 27, 1977. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1977, cat. no. 21.
Norma Broude Seurat in Perspective. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1978, p. 88.
Masataka Ogawa, Takeshi Kashiwa Seurat. Senshukai, "Les Peintres Impressionistes" Series 13, Tokyo, 1978, fig. no. A, ill.
Alexandrian, Alice Sachs Seurat. Crown Point Press, See also editions published by Flammarion, Paris, 1980 and 1990; Bonfini, Näfels, 1980; Easton Press, Norwalk, CT, 1983, 1993, Südwest Verlag, München, 1981., 1st U.S. edition of French original text (pub. Flammarion, 1980). 1980, p. 96 (list of illustrations), pp. 20, 26-7, 93, ill.
Erich Franz, Bernd Growe, John William Gabriel Georges Seurat, Zeichnungen / Georges Seurat, Drawings Catalogue published on the occasion of an exhibition at the Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, and Kunsthaus Zürich, 1983-1984. Prestel Verlag (Munich), Little, Brown and Company (Boston), Editions in German and English. Munich and Boston, 1983-1984, fig. no. 15, pp. 63-64, 188,, ill.
Charles F. Stuckey Seurat. The Artist's Limited Edition, A Madaenas Monograph on the Arts, New York, 1984, p. 6.
Richard Thomson Seurat. Phaidon Press, Oxford, 1985, fig. no. pl. 1, pp. 9, 10, ill.
Herbert Wotte Georges Seurat, Wesen, Werk, Wirkung. VEB Verlag der Kunst, Dresden, 1988, cat. no. 23, 145, fig. no. 31, ill.
Seurat und sein Kreis. Exh. cat., Salzburg, Galerie Salis, 'Festspielaustellung', 1989. Galerie Salis, Salzburg, 1989.
Alain Madeleine-Perdrillat, Jean-Marie Clarke Seurat. Editions Albert Skira (Geneva), Rizzoli (New York), French & English eds. published simultaneously by Skira &Rizzoli. Geneva and New York, 1990, pp. 12-13, ill.
John Rewald Seurat: A Biography. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Thames and Hudson, Revised from 1943 text with additional material and bibliography. New York and London, 1990, pp. 139, 140.
Françoise Cachin Seurat et le rêve de l'art-science. Librairie Gallimard, Réunion des Musées Nationaux , Peinture, Paris, 1991, p. 138 (table of illustrations), fig. no. 14hd, pp. 14-15, ill.
Anne Distel Seurat. Chêne, Switzerland?, 1991, p. 158 (chronology), fig. no. 2, pp. 8, 47, ill.
Michael Kimmelman "Seurat, The Enigma behind the Luster (Review of MMA exhibition 'Georges Seurat', 24 September 1991 - 12 January 1992)." New York Times. New York, 22 September, 1991, p. 35.
Patrick Pacheco "Point Counterpoint : Five American painters discuss the relevance and influence of Georges Seurat's work today." Art and Antiques. vol. 8, no. 8, October 1991, p. 75, ill.
Robert L. Herbert, Françoise Cachin, Anne Distel, Susan Alyson Stein, Gary Tinterow Georges Seurat, 1859-1891. Exh. cat., Paris, Grand Palais, 9 April 1991 - 12 August 1991, and MMA, 24 September 1991 - 12 January 1992. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, English version; French version also published. New York, 1991-1992, cat. no. 32, pp. 51-52, ill.
Éric Darragon Seurat, Correspondances, témoignages, notes inédites, critiques. Texts chosen by Hélène Seyrès, Acropole, Paris, 1991, p. 85.
Maurizia Tazartes Seurat. Giunti, Art Dossier, no. 60, Florence, 1991, pp. 8, 9, ill.
Michael F. Zimmermann, Jérôme Ferry, Solange Schnall, Karin Fanny Williams Les Mondes de Seurat, son oeuvre et le débat artistique de son temps. Fonds Mercator (Anvers), Albin Michel (Paris), French edition (also see German ed.). Antwerp and Paris, 1991, fig. no. 83, pp. 62, 63, ill.
Joseph C. Skrapits "Shades of Gray, The Drawings of Georges Seurat" American Artist. vol. 56, no. 596, New York, March 1992, p. 46, ill.
Linda Nochlin "Body Politics : Seurat's Poseuses." Art in America. Reprinted in Linda Nochlin - 'Representing Women', Thames and Hudson, 1999., vol. 82, no. 3, New York, March 1994, p. 121.
John Leighton, Richard Thomson Seurat and the Bathers. Accompanied exhibition 'Seurat and the Bathers' at the National Gallery, London, 2 July - 28 September 1997. National Gallery, London, Yale University Press, London, 1997, p. 120.
Linda Nochlin Representing Women. Thames and Hudson, Text is the same as Nochlin - "Body Politics: Seurat's Poseuses", in 'Art in America', vol. 82, no. 3, March 1994., 1999, p. 232.
Robert L. Herbert Seurat : Drawings and Paintings. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2001, pp. 31, 32, 34, 57-58, fig. no. 13, p. 29, ill.
Aurea Carmina Georges Seurat & La Tradition des Traces Harmoniques. Marseilles, 2003, p. 23, ill.
Marina Ferretti-Bocquillon Seurat et le dessin neo-impressionniste. Musée d'Orsay, Five Continents Editions, Paris and Milan, 2005, p. 7.
Jodi Hauptman, Richard Thomson, Richard Shiff, Karl Buchberg, Hubert Damisch, Bridget Riley George Seurat: The Drawings. Exh. cat. Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, 2007, cat. no. 36, p. 250, ill.
Ways of Pointillism. Heinz Widauer, Hirmer Verlag, Vienna, 2016, cat. no. 1, pp. 28-30 and 285, ill.
The Museum community congratulates Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Dawoud Bey—two artists featured in The Met's 2015–16 Artist Project series—on their 2017 MacArthur fellowships.
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