Seurat at the MoMa

Though Seurat is most often remembered as a Neo-Impressionist, the inventor of pointillism, and the creator of the painting,
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, his incomparable drawings are among his–and modernism’s–greatest achievements. Working primarily with conté crayon on paper, Seurat explored the Parisian metropolis and its environs, abstracted figures, spaces, and structures, and dramatized the relationship between light and shadow, creating a distinct body
of work that is a touchstone for the art of the twentieth century and today.

Even though Seurat saw his drawings as only a means to an end, research for his painting. I find them even more poetic than his actual paintings. Transient. His figures dissolve into the landscapes becoming part of there surroundings.
So quiet yet charged with the vibrations of there presence.

The drawing, most of them made in his studio, focus on light and its shaping and modeling of the figures. The resulting tones informed color relationships in the final work.
If you haven't gotten yourself down to the MOMA you need to. I am planning to go back for seconds. And if your're there say hi to Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World she is lonely.