Seurat was unhappy with the level of instruction at the Ecole, which focused on classicism when Seurat was interested in more challenging fronts. He also became interested in the theories of complementary color, which lead him to the art and writings if Eugene Delacroix. He left his studies in 1979 to serve his term in the army, filling notebooks with sketches when time allowed.
Upon return from military service, Seurat moved into a studio on the rue de Chabrol where he immersed himself in his art, concentrating on the elements of light and shade, and decreasing the importance of the line as a means of definition. In the years of 1882 and 1883, he concentrated almost exclusively on drawing, and exhibited a drawing of Aman-Jean to the Salon of 1883, although his other entries were rejected. He grew more and more infatuated with the laws of harmony and color, and began to study those aspects of painting, studying the color phenomena in the works of Delacroix and other masters.
In 1882, Seurat began using a technique using small dots of paint as well as sweeping brush strokes that created an impression of vibrancy and luminosity. Perhaps the best example of this technique - known as Pointillism or divisionism - is his "Bathers, Asnieres" (1883), a remarkable scene of a tranquil Summer day that looks positively vibrant. For the painting, he executed many "croquetons," or prepatory studies, on canvas for the work of varying brush strokes. The work, however, was rejected by the Salon of 1884. "Bathers," however, was exhibited by the newly formed Salon of Independent Artists in December of that year, a group consisting of artists such as Paul Signac and Odilon Redon, who had similarly had work rejected by the Salon.
In 1885, Seurat began on a work he wanted to use as a showcase for his technique. The Painting was "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of la Grand Jatty,", a huge work over six and a half feet high and ten feet wide that occupied Seurat for over two years while he made countless studies for it. Its colors seemed even more vibrant than the ones on "Bathers" and did indeed show his technique at its best . He sent the work to be shown at the eighth exhibition of the Impressionists as well as landscapes he had executed of Grandcamp. "Sunday Afternoon" was exhibited in its own room, and provoked much response from the critics (although they could not tell the works of Seurat and fellow divisionist Paul Signac and Camille Pissarro apart), and even the avant garde writer Octave Mirbeau saw the work as being a hoax. Felix Fenton, a critic who had admired "Bathers," however, was the lone voice in support of Seurat's new style.
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