The exhibition itinerary

ROOM 1 – A NEW MOVEMENT IN THE WAKE OF IMPRESSIONISM

It was in 1880, after a visit to Claude Monet’s first solo exhibition, that Paul Signac decided to become
a painter. The admiration he had for his illustrious predecessor was decisive for the young self-taught
artist, who started out his career by adopting an Impressionist approach. This is evident in the vigorous
strokes and the luminous colours in his first works (Palette. Public Garden and Saint-Briac. Le Béchet)

In 1884, Signac took part in the founding

of the Société des Artistes Indépendants,
united by the desire to hold an annual
Salon ‘without jury or awards’. At this
point, he became friends with Georges
Seurat and together they studied the
chemist Eugène Chevreul’s work on the
perception of colours.

During the winter of 1885–1886, Seurat

was the first artist to apply the principle of
the division of colours, by juxtaposing
small strokes of pure colour on his canvas
and leaving the viewer’s eye to optically
blend the individual colours. Synthesising
the lines of landscapes in remarkably
simple canvases (Bow of the Boat and The
Beacons at Saint-Briac), Signac adopted this
new technique, as did Camille Pissarro.

Pissarro, whom he met in 1885, opened the way for young artists to participate in the eighth exhibition
of Impressionist painting in 1886. Brought together in the last room, their canvases created an effect
of novelty. The adjective ‘neo-Impressionist’ was coined by the critic Félix Fénéon in September 1886.
The principle of the division of tone became widespread and it was adopted by many painters, such
as Maximilien Luce, Henri-Edmond Cross, and Théo Van Rysselberghe, who became one of the
principal proponents of neo-Impressionism in Belgium.

Paul Signac, Palette. Public Garden, oil on the artist’s palette, 1882–83, 32 x 23.5 cm, private collection

4 – Press kit – Musée Jacquemart-André

ROOM 2 – SIGNAC: THE EMERGENCE OF A DISTINCT STYLE

it was on the banks of the Seine that Signac

created a first series of neo-Impressionist
landscapes, including Sunset, Les Andelys
(Les Andelys. Soleil couchant), perhaps
working outdoors. But the technique of the
division of colour was hardly suited to
outdoor work, as several stages were
required to avoid mixing the pigments. The
artist, who had retained the Impressionist
sensibilities of his early career, continued with
his studies from nature and then created the
final composition in the studio. This
preparatory work, for landscapes
(Concarneau) and scenes from
contemporary life (The Dining Room), attest
to the free and direct approach that
preceded the production of more carefully
constructed compositions created in the
studio.

In 1892, Signac, who widely explored the Bretton coast and the banks of the Seine, discovered the
port of Saint-Tropez. This came as a revelation to the painter, as indicated by the chromatic scale in
the work Sunset over the City (Study). Over the next five years, Signac exclusively devoted his work to
Saint-Tropez, varying the viewpoints and effects. In 1893, he began work on an ambitious decorative
and philosophical composition intended to celebrate the life he led on the Mediterranean coast and
which he entitled In the Time of Harmony (Au temps d’harmonie). At this time, his technique evolved and he
used larger brushstrokes that gave the colours added impact, as attested in the works After the Storm, Saint-
Tropez (Saint-Tropez. Après l’orage) and The Fountain des Lices at Saint-Tropez (Saint-Tropez. Fontaine
des Lices).

In 1897, Signac travelled around

France and devoted a series of
pictures to Mont-Saint-Michel. While the
compositions were practically
unchanged, the chromatic scale
varied from one canvas to the next,
depending on the effects of the light,
depicted in Mont-Saint-Michel, Fog
and Sunlight (Mont-Saint-Michel. Brume
et soleil) by delicate pink monochrome
colours.

Paul Signac (1863–1935), Sunset, Les Andelys, 1886, oil on canvas, 32.8 x 46.1 cm, oil on canvas, private collection © Schaelchli-
Schmidt Zurich
Paul Signac (1863–1935), After the Storm, Saint-Tropez, 1895, oil on canvas, 65 x 81 cm, private collection © Schaelchli-Schmidt
Zurich

6 – Press kit – Musée Jacquemart-André

ROOM 3 – A MULTIFACETED AVANT-GARDE

Alongside his artistic endeavours, Signac attempted to widely diffuse the technique of the division of
tone. He was called ‘the Saint-Paul of neo-Impressionism’ by Thadée Natanson, the founder of the
Revue Blanche, a literary and artistic publication with anarchist leanings. As an exhibition manager,
particularly at the Salon des Artistes Indépendants, who soon became the spokesman of the
movement, Signac had a decisive influence on the Parisian artistic scene. He willingly and
enthusiastically shared his knowledge of the fundamental principles of the division and contrast of
colour. The first generation of neo-Impressionist painters included figures whose objectives were
occasionally divergent. Camille Pissarro was the first of the painters to adopt Seurat’s divided strokes, in
rural landscapes such as The Delafolie Brickworks at Éragny and Flock of Sheep, Éragny-sur-Epte. But
he was also the first to abandon this approach circa 1890, no doubt pressurised to do so by his
dealer, Paul Durand- Ruel, the champion of Impressionism.
Aside from this group of artists, other artists rallied to the neo-Impressionist movement. Louis Hayet set
forth his own chromatic atlas, using mostly grey in Au Café. Working in isolation in his native region in
south-west France, Achille Laugé also developed a personal approach—which was rural and naïve in
inspiration—to the division of colour, of which The Flowering Tree was a vibrant example.

Camille Pissarro (1830–1903), The Delafolie Brickworks at Éragny, 1888, oil on canvas, 55 x 72 cm, private collection

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ROOM 4 – A VIBRANT ARTISTIC SCENE

In March 1887, Signac, who was also a collector, purchased a picture by Maximilien Luce at the Salon
des Indépendants. This marked the beginning of a great friendship and Signac introduced Luce to the
principles of the division of tone. They not only understood each other on the artistic front but
politically too, because both painters had the same anarchist convictions. They were regular readers
of the journal La Révolte, in whose pages Signac published in 1891 an article that claimed that the
most revolutionary artists were those capable of inventing a new language.

Luce focused above all on scenes from

everyday life in Paris, as in Le Café.
During his stays in Belgium, he
discovered with fascination the world
of the steelworkers and created
flamboyant works such as The
Steelworks (L’Aciérie).

A source of inspiration for Luce,

Belgium was Georges Lemmen’s
homeland. A member of the group of
Les XX, an avant-garde circle
established in Brussels in 1883, he
exhibited his work at the same time as
the Indépendants in Paris and became
one of the Belgian followers of Seurat’s
theories. Seashore in Normandy (La
Promenade au bord de la mer),
characteristic of his subtle and delicate
art, was one of his most remarkable
early works, before he became
interested in the art of the Nabis, circa
1895.
Also aligned with the Nabis, Georges
Lacombe briefly adopted neo-
Impressionism, although he did not
restrict his technique to the scientific
rules of the division of tone. As attested
in The Bay of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, he
applied juxtaposed strokes of bright
colours. He also briefly experimented
with neo-Impressionism, paving the
way for a personal exploration of the
potential of colour.

Maximilien Luce (1858–1941), The Steelworks, 1899, oil on canvas, 92 x 73.3 cm, private collection

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ROOM 5 – ARTISTIC FRIENDSHIPS

Ever ready to become acquainted with other artists, Signac was surrounded by artists with whom he
established great friendships. Hence, as of 1892, he welcomed his friend Luce in Saint-Tropez, who was in
turn equally attracted to the small port in the Var. The champion of the working classes was inspired to
create luminous and harmonious compositions that featured popular figures. When he returned to a
more traditional approach in the mid 1890s, his friendship with Signac remained unchanged.

Henri-Edmond Cross, who in 1891 was a late follower of neo-Impressionism, remained committed to
the movement until his death in 1910. He became Signac’s friend, and to some extent took over
Seurat’s role after the latter’s death in March 1891, and became one of the movement’s major figures. The
exchanges between both artists were decisive during the writing of D’Eugène Delacroix au neo-
Impressionism, Signac’s theoretical treatise that was published in 1899. Cross too was very inspired by
the landscapes of the Midi, where he moved in 1891, and he used pure colours that he applied in
broad strokes.

Henri-Edmond Cross (1856–1910), Landscape with Cap Nègre, June–November 1906, oil on canvas, 90.3 x 116.9 cm, private collection© Schaelchli-Schmidt Zurich

10 – Press kit – Musée Jacquemart-André

ROOM 6 – SIGNAC AND THE APPEAL OF WATERCOLOURS

When he discovered Saint-Tropez for the first time, in 1892, Signac painted his first watercolours. This
technique, which he increasingly used in his work, enabled him to work outside and gather
information that he could later use in the studio.

Signac, who particularly enjoyed working outdoors, did so as often as he could. He created
independent watercolours, of a rare mastery and delicacy, considering them as finished works—such
as Antibes—, which he exhibited as such. He worked on various formats and supports, and painted
refined fans, with iridescent and flamboyant colours.

Producing his own catalogue, he executed delightful ‘portraits’ of his pictures, accompanied by their
titles, dates, and locations. He reproduced his watercolour compositions, before reworking them in
ink, as attested by the sheet that echoes the famous work Avignon. Morning, exhibited in room 8.

Paul Signac (1863–1935), Antibes, 1910, watercolour, India ink, and graphite on paper, 32 x 44.2 cm, private collection

12 – Press kit – Musée Jacquemart-André

ROOM 7 – SIGNAC, IN SEARCH OF NEW MOTIFS

At the turn of the century, Signac became a

figure of the Parisian artistic scene and several
galleries devoted monographic exhibitions to
the artist, in 1902, 1904, and 1907. He also
achieved international success and his works
were regularly exhibited in Brussels, Vienna,
and Germany. An inveterate traveller, he
pursued his quest for new motifs. A painter of
water, colour, and light, he decided to visit
the great European ports and, above all,
Venice, where he stayed in 1904 and 1908.
The Serenissima inspired him to create
polychrome compositions, including the
dazzling Rainbow, Venice, in which the
colours of the prism are arranged in
sumptuous bouquets.

At the same time, Signac’s graphic work became richer, as the artist adopted different approaches
and techniques. As of 1907, he executed large India ink washes, such as Flood at the Pont Royal.
Paris. Veritable preparatory cartoons executed according to the traditions of classical painting, they
were used as preludes to the creation of his paintings. Although he was a champion of colour, Signac
also enjoyed working with the contrast of black and white, which he mastered with equal talent.
When working outdoors, the artist preferred to work with watercolours, a technique he had
assiduously practised since 1892 and which he increasingly used in his oeuvre. Signac’s last major
project focused on the series of ports of France, which comprised more than two hundred
watercolours representing around one hundred ports. Thanks to this fascinating record created
between 1929 and 1931, we are now able to follow his daily progress along the shores he visited, from
Sète to Menton and Dunkirk to Concarneau.

Paul Signac (1863–1935), Rainbow, Venice, 1905, oil on canvas, 73.7 x 92.3 cm, private collection © Schaelchli-Schmidt Zurich
Paul Signac (1863–1935), Nice, 2 May 1931, watercolour, gouache, and black chalk on laid paper, 27.3 x 43.2 cm, private collection

14 – Press kit – Musée Jacquemart-André

ROOM 8 – SIGNAC, THE LIBERATION OF COLOUR

As of 1895, Signac’s art shifted towards the

liberation of colour, which increasingly
moved away from the observed motif.
Inspired by Turner, whose works he
discovered on a trip to London in 1898, the
artist pursued his quest: ‘one must be
liberated from any idea of imitating and
copying nature, and (…) one must create
tints’, he noted in his diary. Hence, the artist
gradually shifted away from naturalism
and adopted two complementary
approaches to the composition of his
works.

The first approach consisted of choosing a

dominant colour applied in a broad range
of nuances to structure the painting. The
works Signac created using this technique
were generally monochrome, such as
Antibes. Morning, Marseille. An Old Port,
and Avignon. Morning, characterised by
pink harmonies, which evoke morning
light. In contrast, Signac worked on other
paintings using bold polychromy. In these
works, the colours were detached from reality;
the painter’s imagination and the
arrangement of the forms were subjected
to rigorous equilibrium, which was inspired
by classical landscapes. The composition
Sainte-Anne (Saint-Tropez) and that of
Juan-les-Pins. The Evening (first version)
both reflected the same quest for
symmetry.

The First World War brought this impetus to a sudden halt. A committed pacifist, Signac was
profoundly depressed by the events and his artistic output was drastically affected. After the war, the
artist resumed his activities at the Salon des Indépendants and travelled around France in his car, in
his ongoing quest to find new motifs.

Paul Signac (1863–1935), Juan-les-Pins. The Evening, 1914, India ink wash, 72.3 x 90.1 cm, private collection
Paul Signac (1863–1935), Juan-les-Pins. The Evening (first version),1914, oil on canvas, 73.5 x 92.5 cm, private collection

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