The inventor of the so-called Neo-Impressionist, or pointillist, technique, Seurat used tiny dots of bright, contrasting color to evoke form and light. His technique drew on contemporary theories of visual perception, seeking to give painting a new structure and scientific grounding. Here his subject was the famous tower built by Gustave Eiffel in 1889 for the Universal Exposition in Paris. Seurat portrayed the structure prior to its completion in the summer of 1889. The top, still missing its distinctive crowning platform, seems to dissolve into the sky.