Seurat imparted a timeless, idealized appearance to this monkey by showing the animal in strict profile, with minimal detail, and independent of a setting. He defined the essential aspects of the monkey in light and shade, not through line, using hatching and cross-hatching in Conté crayon and retaining the paper support as the light source. This study is one of many that Seurat made for "La Grande Jatte" (1886, Art Institute of Chicago), the canonical modern image of the Parisian bourgeoisie enjoying their leisure on a Sunday afternoon.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Monkey
Artist:Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris)
Date:1884
Medium:Conté crayon
Dimensions:12 1/4 x 9 3/8 in. (31.1 x 23.9 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Bequest of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot (1876-1967), 1967
Accession Number:67.187.35
Un Singe
Inscription: On recto, lower center, in graphite: "39-31 passer partout mauve [?] / Cadre / verre / replier la moitié inférieure (ne pas la couper)".
On recto, at lower right margin, in pen and blue ink: "Étude pour "le Singe" de la Grande Jatte - 1885/photo 341. J. Rodrigues - Henriques / Mars 1928".
On verso, in blue pencil: "G. Seurat / G. 9-L" [?]
On verso, in grey/black pencil: "361" [posthumous inventory dessin number]
On verso, below accession number at lower right, in graphite: "EL.37.1377"
Marking: On recto, violet stamp at lower center: "Jacques Rodrigues-Henriques, 1958 [?], 20, Rue Bonaparte - PARIS (VIe)"
Félix Fénéon (French)Paris, probably from 1891; Eugène Druet (French)Paris, by 1908 until at least 1926; Jacques Rodrigues-Henriques, Paris, by March 1928 until at least 1929; Adelaide Milton de Groot (American), by 1935, until bequest to MMA in 1967
Bernheim-Jeune et Cie, Paris. "Exposition Georges Seurat (1859-1891), 1908-09," December 14, 1908–January 9, 1909.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Recent Acquisitions: 1968: 'A Rich Harvest'," 1968.
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. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions 1965–1975," December 6, 1975–March 23, 1976.
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. "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," February 8–May 3, 1999.
de Hauke 636; Paris-New York 1991, no. 135
Gustave Coquiot Georges Seurat. Albin Michel, Paris, 1924, pp. 135, 250.
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. 106.
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. 90, ill.
Daniel Catton Rich Seurat and the Evolution of "La Grande Jatte". Renaissance Society of the University of Chicago Press, Studies in the Meaning of Art, Chicago, 1935, fig. no. pl. XIV, xiii, p. 54, ill.
John Rewald, Lionel Abel Georges Seurat. Wittenborn and Co., La Jeune Parque, 1st; subsequent editions in 1946 and 1990. New York, 1943, fig. no. 18, xii, pp. 23, 24, ill.
Jacques de Laprade Georges Seurat. Les Documents d'Art, Monaco, 1945, IX.
Germain Seligman The Drawings of Georges Seurat. Curt Valentin Gallery, New York, 1947, cat. no. 12, fig. no. pl. IX, p. 50, ill.
John Rewald Georges Seurat. Albin Michel, 1st French edition; English editions published 1943 & 1946. 1948, fig. no. 49, pp. 63, 66, ill.
John Rewald Seurat (1859-1891). Braun & Cie, Collection de maîtres, Paris, 1949, fig. no. 12, ill.
L'Association Française d'Action Artistique, Art Institute of Chicago, Roseline Bacou, Maurice Sérullaz French Drawings: Masterpieces from Seven Centuries. Exh. cat., The Art Institute of Chicago, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Detroit Institute of Arts, The California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1955-1956. Jacqueline Bouchot-Saupique, R. R. Donnelley & Sons, Company, Les Presses Artistiques, Chicago, 1955-1956, p. 65.
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. 80, p. 30.
Henri Dorra, John Rewald Seurat: L'oeuvre peint; biographie et catalogue critique. Les Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1959, cat. no. 134d, p. 147.
Joseph-Emile Muller Seurat : Dessins. Fernand Hazan, Paris, 1960, Third page (unnumbered text), fig. no. pl. 21, ill.
César de Hauke Seurat et son oeuvre. vol. 2, Paris, 1961, cat. no. 636, pp. 216-217.
Edward Lucie-Smith Animal Drawings from the XV to the XX Centuries. Helene C. Seiferheld Gallery, no. 8, 1962, ill.
Jacob Bean, John J. McKendry "A Rich Harvest" (printed in conjunction with an exhibition in the Prints and Drawings Galleries showing acquitions over the past two years)." in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. 26, no. 7, New York, March 1968, p. 303, ill.
Claus Virch The Artist and the Animal. Exh. Cat., May 7-24. Knoedler and Co., New York, 1968, cat. no. 94, p. 68, ill.
Daniel Catton Rich Seurat and the Evolution of La Grande Jatte. Greenwood Press, reprint of 1935 edition. New York, 1969, fig. no. pl. XIV, xiii, p. 54.
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. 110, ill.
Louis Hautecoeur Georges Seurat. Fratelli Fabbri Editori, Milan, 1972, fig. no. 42, p. 90, ill.
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. D41, pp. 101, 102, 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. D41, pp. 101, 102, 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. 87, fig. no. 76, pp. 64, 146.
Jacob Bean "Drawings." The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions, 1965-1975. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975, p. 57, ill.
Jacob Bean Patterns of Collecting: Selected Acquisitions, 1965-1975. Explanatory texts accompanying an exhibition. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975, p. 57, 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. 32.
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, fig. no. 18, pp. 76, 92, 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. 135, pp. 199-200, ill.
Dominique Vollichard "Georges Seurat et Paul Verlaine : L'ombre et la mélancolie." in L'Oeil. no. 430, Lausanne, May 1991, fig. no. 2, p. 41, 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. 345, pp. 181-182, 183, ill.
Robert L. Herbert, Neil Harris Seurat and the Making of 'La Grande Jatte.' Exh. cat., The Art Institute of Chicago, 16 June - 19 September. Art Institute of Chicago, University of California Press, Chicago, 2004, cat. no. 54, pp. 85, 87, 265,, ill.
Nadine Orenstein, Jeff L. Rosenheim "A Centennial Album: Drawings, Prints and Photographs." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. LXXIV, no. 3, Winter 2017, p. 37, ill.
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