The Los Angeles museum acquired the work earlier this week at an auction at Sotheby’s in London for $4 million. It came from the private collection of prominent art dealer Jan Krugier.
Created in the late 1870s, when Seurat was about 20 years old, the drawing represents the beginning of the artist’s distinctive use of light and dark shadings that would distinguish his work from that point forward.
Trained in an academic style of figure drawing, Seurat’s earliest works are faithful reproductions of antique sculptures.
In Indian Beggar he broke with that style, depicting an old man sitting with shoulders slumped, his face turned away from the viewer. The artist achieved that effect by using various gradations of light and shadow to define both the figure’s form and mood.
“This drawing signifies the beginning of Seurat’s obsession with the effects of light and dark that characterize his mature paintings and drawings,” J. Paul Getty Museum Director Timothy Potts said. “Together with the later works in our collection, this allows us to represent Seurat’s brilliance as a draftsman throughout his career.”
Other works by Seurat in the Getty collection include three masterpieces from the 1880s, Madame Seurat, the Artist’s Mother, Poplars and Woman Strolling.
Museum officials said Friday that plans for displaying the work will be announced at a later date.
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