Seurat beyond the dots: Courtauld exhibition turns to the sea
The Courtauld Gallery stages the first exhibition devoted to Georges Seurat’s seascapes, bringing 26 coastal works to London from 13 February to 17 May 2026.
Georges Seurat is typically summoned in dots: the Paris park, the parasols, the measured stillness of La Grande Jatte. This spring, the Courtauld Gallery shifts the focus seawards.
The Griffin Catalyst Exhibition: Seurat and the Sea gathers 26 paintings, oil sketches and drawings made along the Channel coast between 1885 and 1890. It is the first exhibition dedicated to Seurat’s seascapes and the first UK show devoted to the artist in nearly three decades.
Working in Grandcamp, Honfleur, Port-en-Bessin, Le Crotoy and Gravelines, Seurat repeatedly returned to harbours, horizons and open water. These works, largely absent of figures, trade Parisian leisure for quiet expanses of light and air. They also chart the development of his Neo-Impressionist technique, as he refined his method of applying discrete touches of colour to capture atmosphere and luminosity.
A particular draw is the reunion of the complete groups of paintings made at Port-en-Bessin in 1888 and Gravelines in 1890. Given Seurat’s early death at 31 and his relatively small body of work, exhibitions on this scale are rare. Loans come from major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Musée d’Orsay, Tate and the National Gallery in London.
The exhibition follows the Courtauld’s recent run of high-profile Impressionist shows, including Monet and London, and arrives with extended Friday opening hours until 8pm throughout its run.
Seurat and the Sea runs at the Courtauld Gallery, Somerset House, from 13 February to 17 May 2026. Full details and ticket information are available via the Courtauld website.
The Griffin Catalyst Exhibition: Seurat and the Sea
13 February – 17 May 2026
https://courtauld.ac.uk/whats-on/exh-seurat-and-the-sea/
Featured image: Installation view, The Griffin Catalyst Exhibition: Seurat and the Sea, Courtauld Gallery. Photo © Fergus Carmichael; Georges Seurat (1859 – 1891), Seascape at Port-en-Bessin, Normandy, 1888, oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Elena Leo is the Culture & Lifestyle Editor of Ikon London Magazine.
