The Île de la Jatte () or Île de la Grande Jatte () is an

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

in the river

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

, located in the department of

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a department in the Île-de-France region of France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west and ...

, and shared between the two communes of

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...

and Levallois. It is situated at the very gates of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, 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 '' A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte'' (1884-1886), itself the inspiration for the musical ''

Sunday in the Park with George ''Sunday in the Park with George'' is a 1984 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It was inspired by the French pointillist painter Georges Seurat's painting '' A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La G ...

'' (1984). Pont de Levallois–Bécon Métro station lies close to the north-eastern end of the island.

History

In 1818, the Duke of Orléans,

Louis-Philippe Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

, acquired the 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 of Mars'), which his father had commissioned, from , and put it on the northern point of the island, converting it into the ('Temple of Love'). It was moved to the southern end of the island in 1930. Between 1850 and 1870,

Napoléon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

and

Baron Haussmann Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

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 Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

Alfred Sisley Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedic ...

, Charles Angrand, and

Albert Gleizes Albert Gleizes (; 8 December 1881 – 23 June 1953) was a French artist, theoretician, philosopher, a self-proclaimed founder of Cubism and an influence on the School of Paris. Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger wrote the first major treatise on ...

painted scenes of the island. In June 2009, a walk around the island () was established, detailing the works of the Impressionists.

Artistic portrayal

Many artists have painted L’Île de la Grande Jatte: * Émile Bernard ** ''Le Pont de fer d’Asnières'', 1887, oil on canvas, 45.9 × 54.2 cm,

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

* Pierre Bonnard ** ''Les travailleurs à la Grande Jatte'', c. 1916–1920, oil on canvas, 130 x 160 cm, National Museum of Western Art *

** '' 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'', 1907–1909, 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, *

** ''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) * ** ''L’Embâcle de la Seine entre Asnières et Courbevoie'', 1891, pastel and graphite on canvas, 51 × 90 cm,

Petit Palais The (; ) is an art museum in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Built for the Exposition Universelle (1900), 1900 Exposition Universelle ("universal exhibition"), it now houses the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts (''Musée des beaux-arts ...

* Georges Seurat ** '' Baignade à Asnières'', 1884, oil on canvas, 201 × 300 cm,

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

** ''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'', 1884–1886, oil on canvas, 207.5 × 308.1 cm,

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

** ''Temps gris, Grande-Jatte'', 1886, oil on canvas, 70.5 × 86.4 cm,

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

** ''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 *

** ''L’Île de la Grande Jatte'', 1873, oil on canvas, 50 × 65 cm,

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...

** ''La Seine et le pont de la Grande Jatte'', 1887, oil on canvas, 32 × 40.5 cm, Van Gogh Museum

Celebrities who have lived on the island

The following celebrities are known to have lived on the island: *

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...

, business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. * Christian Clavier, actor. *

Alexander Grothendieck Alexander Grothendieck, later Alexandre Grothendieck in French (; ; ; 28 March 1928 – 13 November 2014), was a German-born French mathematician who became the leading figure in the creation of modern algebraic geometry. His research ext ...

, mathematician. * Patricia Kaas, singer. *

Jean Reno Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jiménez (born 30 July 1948), commonly known as Jean Reno (), is a French-Spanish actor. He established himself as a Leading actor, leading man of French cinema through his collaborations with director Luc Besson, and has w ...

, actor. * Yves Rénier, actor. *

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

, politician, 23rd President of France. * Alessandra Sublet, radio and television host. *

Marco Verratti Marco Verratti (; born 5 November 1992) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Qatar Stars League club Al-Arabi SC (Qatar), Al-Arabi. A technically gifted playmaker, Verratti began his ...

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player. *

Victor Wembanyama Victor Wembanyama ( ; ; born 4 January 2004), nicknamed "Wemby" and "The Alien", is a French professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Considered one of the best basketball prospec ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player.

References

External links

Jatte Jatte {{HautsSeine-geo-stub