A woman, silhouetted against the shimmering water, strolls along a riverbank. The red roofs of houses can be made out along the opposite bank. Between 1882 and 1886 Seurat painted numerous such landscape studies on small wooden panels, some as independent works and others in preparation for his large-scale compositions.

This sketch provided the starting point for a painting of 1885, 'The Seine at Courbevoie' (private collection).