Some say they see poetry in my paintings; I see only science.

His large-scale work A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884–1886) altered the direction of modern art by initiating Neo-impressionism. Bathers at Asnières was rejected by the Paris Salon and instead he showed it at the Groupe des Artistes Indépendants in May 1884. Soon however disillusioned by the poor organisation of the Indépendants Seurat and some other artists he had met through the group – including Charles Angrand Henri-Edmond Cross Albert Dubois-Pillet and Paul Signac – set up a new organisation the Société des Artistes Indépendants.

It is one of the icons of late 19th-century painting. His large-scale work A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884–1886) altered the direction of modern art by initiating Neo-impressionism.