Paul SIGNAC 1863-1935
Signac, leader of neo-impressionism
Signac painted in the Impressionist manner until his meeting with Seurat, a capital turning point in his work. The following year he met Pissarro and Félix Fénéon, an art critic and the future editor of La Revue Blanche and inventor of the term Néo-Impressionism – the movement of which both Seurat and Signac were the ultimate representatives.
As early as 1886 he adopted the divisionist technique and helped it to evolve. He developed his large oil compositions in the workshop and progressively evolved towards watercolors to which he eventually dedicated himself entirely.
The sea occupies the major role is his work. A sailor at heart, he owned 32 boats over the course of his life. In 1892 he adopted the port of Saint Tropez which he painted from on board his boat.
Marked by Japanese prints until 1900, he underlined his dots with a black line. From 1902 onwards, his watercolors prefigured fauvism and the liberation of color which Matisse, under the influence of Signac and Cross, continued.
If he remained faithful to rigorous divisionism in his oils, his watercolors gave free reign to his natural vivacity. He virtuously painted the changing universe of port life and the lapping of the sea. As unique drafts, watercolors leave no room for mistakes but do allow for freer and more spontaneous fragmentation. His collection of watercolors, the diary of a tireless traveler, a complete tour of France’s ports is, in itself, a monument. He is a Master of this genre.
Last exhibitions dedicated to Paul Signac
2001
- “Paul Signac” at the Grand-Palais – Paris
- “Signac le marin” at Galerie de la Presidence
2011
- “Signac les ports de France” in the Musée Malraux in Le Havre then in the Piscine-musée d’art et d’industrie André Diligent in Roubaix.
2021
- « Signac, Aquarelles » at Galerie de la Presidence, from June 7 to July 17 2021
