Take One Picture is the National Gallery’s flagship project for primary schools. The works in this display demonstrate the innovative ways in which schools have responded to 'Bathers at Asnières' by Georges Seurat.
This year's display features a wide range of responses to Seurat's work in a range of media. Exhibits include large textile banners, poetry, clay figures, wicker characters and monoprints. Children have investigated themes inspired by the painting, including rivers, industry, changing landscapes, clothing, leisure, and colour and painting technique.
About Take One Picture
Each year teachers and pupils are invited to use a painting from the collection as a creative catalyst for learning across the curriculum. This year’s painting, 'Bathers at Asnières', 1884, has been the focus for hundreds of school communities.
About the Painting
Seurat's painting shows Asnières, a suburb of Paris. It was painted at a time of significant urban development and industrial change. On the right is the island of the Grande Jatte and in the distance, the factories of Clichy. In around 1886 Seurat reworked parts of the picture, such as the hat of the boy on the right, after he had invented a technique using dots of contrasting colour to create a vibrant, luminous effect. The work is based on numerous preparatory drawings and oil sketches.
Take One Picture is generously supported by The Dorset Foundation and by The Tavolozza Foundation