The Stone Breaker

c. 1882

Georges Seurat

Associated Names
Georges Seurat

Artist, French, 1859 - 1891

In this painting, short, angular brushstrokes suggest a person in motion. The person is bent over, facing the left, raising a large, thin object over one shoulder. They have pinkish skin and wear a white shirt and blue pants with a black hat. Their facial features are undefined. The person is surrounded by yellow brushstrokes that resemble piles of hay or dry grass, while the background behind the yellow piles is made of dark green tones. The painting is made of thick, overlapping brushstrokes in different shades, giving it a hazy appearance.

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist [1857-1891] until his death.[1] Jacques and Pierre Puybonnieux, Paris, until 1956.[2] (Wildenstein, Paris). Paul Mellon [1907-1999], Upperville, Virginia; bequest 1999 to NGA, with life interest to his wife, Rachel Lambert Mellon [1910-2014].
[1] Atelier Seurat, posthumous inventory, no. 4.
[2] Jacques and Pierre Puybonnieux were the sons of Marie Puybonnieux, Seurat’s cousin, who probably inherited the painting from Seurat’s mother. They probably lent the painting to the 1933 exhibition Seurat et Ses Amis, as they did lend a small panel formerly in the Adele and Arthur Lehman collection.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1933

  • Seurat et ses amis, Exposition de la Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1933, no. 164.

1958

  • Possibly Seurat, Paintings and Drawings, The Art Institute of Chicago; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1958, no. 28 (title is the same, but dimensions are given as 7 3/4" x 11 1/4").

Bibliography

1959

  • Dorra, Henri, and John Rewald. Seurat, l'oeuvre peint, biographie et catalogue critique. Paris, 1959: no. 56, repro.

1976

  • Alpers, Svetlana. "Describe or Narrate? A Problem in Realistic Representation." New Literary History 8, no. 1 (Autumn 1976): 37, repro. 15.

1991

  • Grenier, Catherine. Seurat: Catalogue complet des peintures. Paris, 1991: no, 36, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20189560

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