Smart Secrets of Great Paintings — Season 1, Episode 3: Bathers at Asniers (1884) by Georges Seurat

Episode synopsis

At the end of the 19th century, Asnieres resembled a seaside resort. The cheering crowd that came to attend the regattas animated the banks of the Seine, and the rowing club was always full. When he painted his canvas, Georges Seurat understood that his current era was totally turned towards a fascinating and ruthless religion: progress. Determined that art should not remain left out of these drastic changes underway, he invented pointillism.

About Smart Secrets of Great Paintings

The great works of the past portray abundant testimonies, and are imbued with secrets and are teeming with mysteries. Beneath the surface of the painting, details awaken, to recount the spirit of the times and the vagaries of History, such as wars, revolutions, economic transformation, scientific discovery, beliefs and schools of thought.

More episodes from Season 1

• E1The Moneylender and his Wife (1514) by Quentin Massys
• E2The Artist's Studio (1855) by Gustave Courbet
• E4Las Meninas (1665) by Diego Velazquez
• E5The Wedding at Cana (1563) by Paolo Veronese
• E6The Martyrdom of Saint Appolonia (1461) by Jean Fouquet
• E7A Lady in Her Bath (1571) by Francois Clouet
• E8Marie-Antoinette de Lorraine-Habsbourg, Queen of France and Her Children (1787) by Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun
• E9Women of Algiers in Their Apartment (1834) by Eugène Delacroix
• E10Colorful Life (1907) by Wassily Kandinsky
• E11Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? 1897, Paul Gauguin
• E12Temptations of St. Anthony, 1501, Hieronymus Bosch
• E13Western Port in Frankfurt am Main, 1916, Ludwig Kirchner