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Paul Signac

1863–1935 · pointillism

Paul Signac (1863–1935) was a French painter and one of the leading figures of pointillism, building pictures from small, distinct touches of colour. This gallery follows him from early Paris-area scenes to luminous harbour views of Cassis, Saint-Tropez and Venice.

Life and work

Paul Signac was born in 1863 in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris and died in 1935 in the 6th arrondissement of the same city. A French painter, he is one of the central figures of pointillism, the method of building an image from small, separate touches of pure colour that are meant to combine in the viewer's eye. The works in this gallery trace that path. Road to Gennevilliers, from 1883, belongs to his early years, before the method took hold. By the mid-1880s he was working closely with Georges Seurat, and paintings such as The Meadow (1886) and Breakfast (1886–1887) show the dotted touch becoming systematic. Around 1889–1890 he produced some of his most deliberate statements: the coastal views of Cassis, one of which carries an opus number in the manner of a musical composition, and the elaborate portrait of the critic Félix Fénéon. In the 1890s his touch grew broader and more mosaic-like, visible in Women at the Well (1892) and the large decorative In the Time of Harmony (1893–1895). Later harbour and waterside pictures, from The Port of Saint-Tropez (1901–1902) and Capo di Noli (1898) to Grand Canal (Venice) (1905), apply the same principles to strong light on water, sails and hulls.

Dots that change with distance

Stand close to a work such as The Jetty at Cassis (1889) or Cassis, Cap Lombard, Opus 196 (1889) and you see separate touches of colour sitting side by side. Step back and they settle into sea, sky and shoreline. Notice how shadows are not simply darker versions of a colour but are built from contrasting hues placed next to each other. The calm, ordered surface is deliberate: Signac was after clarity and balance rather than a quick impression of a passing moment.

From fine dots to mosaic blocks

Compare the 1880s pictures, such as Breakfast (1886–1887) or Sunday (1888–1890), with later works such as The Port of Saint-Tropez (1901–1902) or Grand Canal (Venice) (1905). The early touches are small and tight; the later ones are larger, squarer and more openly separated, almost like tesserae in a mosaic. Colour also becomes bolder and more decorative. The portrait of Félix Fénéon (1890), with its swirling patterned background, shows how far Signac would push colour and rhythm for expressive effect.

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