“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”

    The Art Institute of Chicago is home to some of the finest pieces of art the world has ever known. It is always surprising to see how much the museum has for people to see. There are multiple exhibits that are always moving in and out all the time so that they could vary up what could be seen by the public. However, some of the Art Institute’s most loved and well-known works of art are never taken out. One of the pieces that always seen to amaze somebody is “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by Georges-Pierre Seurat.
    You know that scene in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” where Ferris, Sloane, and Cameron are in the Art Institute and there is the montage of different pieces of art from the museum. Then, there is the scene where Cameron is staring at the little girl in this painting. Well, that is how I feel every time I look at this painting. While it took Seurat two years to paint this work, it shows that it really did take a lot of work to make this look as beautiful as it is. The portrait shows us a summer day of all of these people are out to enjoy the summer day. There is a person fishing, there are boats in the water, people are just enjoying the beautiful day.
    It’s an amazing painting to look at because if you look really closely, there are all of these little dots of color. And you start thinking, “This guy did all of this with all of these little dots of color?” Well, amazingly, yes. There are so many dots of color in the painting that it is almost makes you dizzy. Even when you look into the face of the little girl in the portrait like Cameron did in “Ferris Bueller,” there is definitely all of those dots of color in the faces of the people.
    The portrait shows a good example of capturing the time period, which is the 1880’s. The painting sends you back to the 1880’s and everything almost looks realistic. The painting shows the way people dressed and what people did for entertainment back in those days. Remember, there were no cell phones or computers back then so instead people went fishing or took a little walk in the park. Sadly, you don’t see much of this kind of this stuff anymore. It’s important to say this is a time period where people could go out and have their own ways of enjoying themselves such as enjoying a beautiful day.
    “Sunday Afternoon” is truly a work of art. There are many stories that can be told throughout this painting. However, it’s almost like going to the symphony. You don’t have to get involved in the story of it all, but enjoy it as a work of art.