Île de la Jatte
The Île de la Jatte or Île de la Grande Jatte is an island in the river Seine, located in the department of Hauts-de-Seine, and shared between the two communes of Neuilly-sur-Seine and Levallois. It is situated at the very gates of Paris, being 7 km distant (in a straight line) from the towers of Notre Dame and 3 km from the Place de l'Étoile. The island, which has about 4,000 inhabitants, is nearly 2 km long and almost 200 m wide at its widest point. Its name translates as "Island of the Bowl" or "Island of the Big Bowl".
It is best known as the setting for Georges Seurat's pointillist oil painting, Un Dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte (A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte) (1884-1886 and 1889), and also for the Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine musical, Sunday in the Park with George.
History
In 1818, the Duke of Orléans, Louis-Philippe, acquired the Château de Neuilly to house his family of ten children. He bought the land and created a park which included the island, reachable only by boat. He also moved the Temple de Mars (Temple of Mars), which his father had commissioned, from Parc Monceau, and put it on the northern point of the island, converting it into the Temple de l’amour (Temple of Love). It was moved to the southern end of the island in 1930.[1][2]
Between 1850 and 1870, Napoléon III and Baron Haussmann further modified the island, and artists began painting there. At the end of the 19th century the island became known for its painters, especially the Impressionists. In addition to Georges Seurat, artist such as Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Alfred Sisley, Charles Angrand, and Albert Gleizes painted scenes of the island.[3][4]
In June 2009, a walk around the island (Île des impressionnistes) was established, detailing the works of the Impressionists.[5][6][7]
Selected paintings
Many artists have painted L’Île de la Grande Jatte:[8]
- Émile Bernard
- Le Pont de fer d’Asnières, 1887, oil on canvas, 45.9 × 54.2 cm, Museum of Modern Art
- Albert Gleizes
- Les Baigneuses (The Bathers), 1912, oil on canvas, 105 x 171 cm, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
- L’Île de la Grande Jatte ou Bord de parc avec rivière animée de canots, 1907–09, pastel and ink on paper, 25 × 41.5 cm, private collection
- L’Île de la Grande Jatte, 1908, charcoal and gouache on paper, 25 × 41.5 cm, Musée National d'Art Moderne
- La Seine près de Courbevoie, 1908, oil on canvas, 54 × 65 cm, Musée Roybet Fould
- Claude Monet
- L’île de la Grande Jatte, 1874, oil on canvas, 50 × 70 cm, private collection
- À travers les arbres, île de la Grande Jatte, 1878, oil on canvas, 54 × 65 cm, private collection
- Les rives de la Seine, île de la Grande Jatte, 1878, oil on canvas, 52 × 63 cm, Musée Marmottan
- Printemps à l'Île de la Grande Jatte, 1878, oil on canvas, 50 × 61 cm, National Gallery (Norway)
- Alexandre Nozal
- L’Embâcle de la Seine entre Asnières et Courbevoie, 1891, pastel and graphite on canvas, 51 × 90 cm, Petit Palais
- Georges Seurat
- Baignade à Asnières, 1884, oil on canvas, 201 × 300 cm, National Gallery
- La Seine à Courbevoie ou Paysage à la tourelle, 1884, oil on canvas, 15.5 × 24.5 cm, Van Gogh Museum
- Un dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte, 1884–86, oil on canvas, 207.5 × 308.1 cm, Art Institute of Chicago
- Temps gris, Grande-Jatte, 1886, oil on canvas, 70.5 × 86.4 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Le Pont de Courbevoie, 1886–87, oil on canvas 46.4 × 55.3 cm, Courtauld Gallery
- La Seine à la Grande Jatte, 1888, oil on canvas, 65 × 81 cm, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
- Alfred Sisley
- L’Île de la Grande Jatte, 1873, oil on canvas, 50 × 65 cm, Musée d'Orsay
- Vincent van Gogh
- La Seine et le pont de la Grande Jatte, 1887, oil on canvas, 32 × 40.5 cm, Van Gogh Museum
- Pierre Bonnard
- Les travailleurs à la Grande Jatte, c. 1916–20, oil on canvas, 130 x 160 cm, National Museum of Western Art
Celebrities who have lived on the island
The following celebrities are known to have lived on the island:
- Christian Clavier, actor.
- Alexander Grothendieck, mathematician.[9]
- Jean Reno, actor.
- Yves Rénier, actor.
- Patricia Kaas, singer.
- Nicolas Sarkozy, politician, 23rd President of France.
- Marco Verratti, football (soccer) player.
- Richard Branson, business magnate, investor, and philanthropist.
- Alessandra Sublet, radio and television host.
References
- Monique Lucenet. L'Ile de la Grande Jatte au cœur du Val de Seine Impressionniste. 2015. Editions Tourisme et Découvertes. Collection "Les Itinéraires"
- Marie-Christine Sonkin, La qualité de vie de Neuilly se paie toujours très cher, Le Figaro, 2008
- Adeline Fleury et Pauline Revenaz, Neuilly village people, Éditions du Moment, 2007
- Le port de Courbevoie, hauts-de-seine.fr
- Monique Lucenet. Balades Impressionnistes en Bord de Seine. 2015. Editions Les Itinéraires et Le Pélican
- Monique Lucenet. Impressionnisme en Seine, Art, Tourisme, Loisirs. 2013. Editions Les Itinéraires
- Les impressionnistes de retour à la Grande Jatte, hauts-de-seine.net
- Monique Lucenet, Bernard Lamy, La Grande Jatte - Belle Isle en Seine, Éditions Jatte Livres & Culture, 2006
- Persson, Ulf (2015). 'Remembering Grothendieck'. NAW 5/17 nr. 1, 1 March 2016. Reprint of interview with Jacob Murre originally published in EMS NewsLetter, Issue 96, June 2015. Retrieved from http://www.nieuwarchief.nl/serie5/pdf/naw5-2016-17-1-058.pdf.