Dying at the age of 31, Seurat had a short career. He was meticulous, well-planned out, and slow working, due to these reasons he created only 10 major works throughout his career. One of which, The Gardener, painted in 1882, displays impressionist brush strokes from his earlier work. Like other impressionist, Seurat deviated from the typical “rules” of painting. He tackled paintings more freely, executing them without much use of lines to guide him.

              In classic impressionist fashion the subject matter of The Gardener is one of an everyday peasant life. The brush strokes are thin but visible, depicting the light accurately. There is little mixing of the colors throughout the strokes, adding to the lightness of the painting. The strokes create movement throughout and ordinary scene.

The way in which color is depicted in impressionist paintings changed as well. The introduction of the primary and complimentary colors influenced Seurat and other impressionist painters. Later in his career, Seurat breaks down color schemes in a letter. He explains how red compliments green, orange compliments blue, and yellow compliments violet. In The Gardener, yellows and purples are used throughout to complement each other. Although Seurat is often thought of as a post-impressionist painter, his early work certainly shows much influence of classic impressionism.