Since the coronavirus pandemic started, it has become clear for the previous way in which society has socialized will most likely never be the same. Children across the globe have been pulled from daycare and schools, college and university students have transferred to online learning, while the majority of companies have organized a new remote way of work. Similar to professional and educational settings, leisure has also changed significantly, with fewer people being willing to spend a lot of time in public spaces to avoid the spreading of the virus. Public areas such as parks have become less lively and busy, with people preferring to stay inside or enjoy some fresh air in their gardens or apartment balconies. Even when there are people in parks or near lakes, they tend to stay away from excessive crowding and use personal protection measures as per the guidelines of their cities or local communities. Therefore, the levels of socialization and face-to-face communication have dropped immensely, and seeing the images of the past illustrating leisurely activities may seem foreign and even weird. George Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” illustrates such an alien scenario.
The people depicted in the painting enjoy their Sunday afternoon; they are doused in the sunshine, with some finding shade underneath trees or umbrellas, not rushing anywhere. By the look of it, La Grande Jatte was a favored location for the Parisian bourgeoisie as the majority of people in the painting are dressed well to come to enjoy a weekend away from the busy city (see Figure 1). Although Seurat has been celebrated for his unique use of color and the dot brushstrokes as the core elements of impressionism and post-impressionism, the painting’s value in question lies in the comment on the social conditions of Paris (Jones).
At the time of the painting, the city has undergone significant changes after a massive, although debated urban renewal program (Jones). Thus, Seurat intentionally emphasized the pretentiousness and artificiality of the leisurely setting, paying close attention to costumes and even such details as pets, as there is also a monkey. The crowded La Grande Jatte is something that one can rarely see in the light of the Pandemic, and it is also notable that those of the higher class have usually enjoyed more freedom even in the context of the Pandemic. Research has shown that higher-income populations experienced more minor risk factors and emotional stress during the Pandemic as they had more resources to social distance themselves and avoid going to public places because they could afford to do so (Reeves and Rothwell).
Stemming from the reflection on Seurat’s painting, the Pandemic has not only caused a shift in society’s socialization but also made a class divide more prominent in the light of a persistent threat to health. Some time will pass before people could gather on a river shore or in a park at the same level of density as on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Moreover, it for sure that people of higher status will be the ones enjoying their freedom first, pointing to the class divide in society that is yet to be overcome.
References
“A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884).” The London Magazine. Web.
Jones, Christoper. “How to Read Paintings: A Sunday Afternoon On La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat.” Christoper P Jones, 2020. Web.
Reeves, Richard, and Jonathan Rothwell. “Class and COVID: How the less affluent face double risks.” Brookings, 2020. Web.