Early years:
Georges Seurat was born Paris on 2nd December 1859. His mother, Ernestine Faivre, was also born in Paris and his father, Antoine Chrisostome was born in Champagne and was a legal officer. His father spent the majority of his time in a cottage in Le Raincy, whilst his mother tended to Seurat and his siblings in Paris.
Georges Seurat showed an interest in drawing from a very early age and studied with some notable figures in his tender years. This included French sculptor Justin Lequien and Henri Lehmann from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.
Aged 20 Seurat left the Ecole des Beaux after finding a great deal of inspiration from the book 'Essai sur les signes inconditionnels' or 'Essay on the Unmistakable Signs of Art' in English. This book by Humbert de Superville was one of many that had a significant effect on Seurat's artistic direction.
After a brief spell in the army Seurat returned to the tutelage of Lehmann, but by now his views on art were beginning to diverge a great deal from his mentor. After leaving the school Seurat moved with friend and fellow artist Edmond-Francois Aman-Jean to the island of La Grande Jatte in 1881. This move served as one of Seurat's biggest inspirations and it was on the island that the artist painted one of the defining pieces of his career.