Horse by Georges Seurat

This, in the richness of its construction, is one of the most rigorous and satisfactory of Seurat's works. As early as 188.S, Seurat began to draw away from the influence of Puvis de Chavannes and return to the study of Nicolas Poussin. He resolved to show nothing on the canvas that he had not first organized in his mind. The triangular composition of this small work, a marvel of silence and suspense is admirable in every way. The picture has the viewer waiting for something to happen - and it is clear that something is about to happen. There is a sense of calm expectancy in this work which is perhaps unequaled in all paintings.

No single element in this composition could be altered: the horse, the tree trunk, the hedgerow-everything is just where it should be. In some unknown way, the artist manages to touch us deeply with a very simple subject.

The fact is that Georges Seurat made many preliminary studies for this small canvas. He proceeded systematically, first reproducing what he had been able to observe in nature and then gradually eliminating all unnecessary descriptions until he had attained this superior order in which every detail counts, in which nothing is mere imitation. The form is so deeply etched that it becomes obsessive.

The tones of the field and the background, in juxtaposition with those of the horse, tell us clearly that here, for Seurat, color comes last. He makes it sing as agreeably and spontaneously as an Impressionist, but not until he has meticulously worked out the drawing and layout of his composition.