Woman standing

Georges Seurat made this study of a standing woman as preparation for one of his large compositions. The figure emerges from the paper with characteristic stillness and monumentality. Seurat's drawings, made with soft conté crayon, achieve notable tonal subtlety.

These preparatory studies reveal Seurat's detailed working process. He would make dozens of drawings before beginning a painting. His Post-Impressionist innovations, including Pointillism, changed modern art. This drawing is at the Musée Picasso in Paris.