Models is considered distinctive because of its pointillist technique and the political implications of its depiction of the nude female body.

Seurat is also praised for his technique of pointillism which in an almost scientific manner breaks the paint surface into dots of color that blend together when seen from afar.

[4] In an article written by Norma Broude in the Art Bulletin, she compares Pointillism to photo printing in the 1880s France.

Though not the same, there are large similarities in the results given the preoccupation with color theory and the meticulously planning of paint application in pointillism.

[10][11] In 1947, at the sale of the collection of Félix Fénéon, an early advocate and promoter of Seurat, France acquired studies for the painting that now reside in the Musée d'Orsay.

Les Poseuses has sometimes been interpreted as a response to this criticism, and the inclusion of A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte in the composition serves to connect the works.

[19] The women's poses may also allude to earlier and widely-recognized paintings, such as Édouard Manet's 1863 Luncheon on the Grass or Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres's 1808 The Valpinçon Bather.

[19] Furthermore, the English art critic Waldemar Januszczak believes this painting breaks the fourth wall, offering a glimpse into the poser who is the original source of the women depicted in A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte.