Samois, The Bank, Morning
Paris 1863 - Paris 1935
1901
Oil on canvas
On loan from a private collection
Inventory 41.2013
Signac showed this painting for the first time in 1902, at an exhibition of Neo-Impressionist works held at the Berlin Gallery of PaulCassirer. After featuring in several other exhibitions in Germany, it was purchased by Dr. Karl Bett, a fervent admirer of Matisse and a leading collector pf avant-garde art. Signac comes close to abstraction in this painting; to convey the misty morning atmosphere, he makes light his principal subject.
The Pointilist technique put to good use in this work illustrates the virtuosity with which the painter succeeded in capturing the moment. Keeping in mind the investigations of landscape made by his companion in the Neo-Impressionist venture, Seurat, who had died the entire surface of the canvas "vibrates." Under Seurat's guidance, in 1883 Signac had discovered the potential of Divisionism in respect to colour, nothing - in line with the research conducted by the chemist Eugène Chevreul - that, in terms of the way the retina causes them to be perceived visually, two dots of colour blend. With the objective of achieving the "instantaneousness" so characteristic of his future work, Signac, worked relentlessly, developing the spontaneity of his brushwork and brightening his palette.
Samois, The Bank, Morning
Paris 1863 - Paris 1935
1901
Oil on canvas
On loan from a private collection
Inventory 41.2013
Signac showed this painting for the first time in 1902, at an exhibition of Neo-Impressionist works held at the Berlin Gallery of PaulCassirer. After featuring in several other exhibitions in Germany, it was purchased by Dr. Karl Bett, a fervent admirer of Matisse and a leading collector pf avant-garde art. Signac comes close to abstraction in this painting; to convey the misty morning atmosphere, he makes light his principal subject.
The Pointilist technique put to good use in this work illustrates the virtuosity with which the painter succeeded in capturing the moment. Keeping in mind the investigations of landscape made by his companion in the Neo-Impressionist venture, Seurat, who had died the entire surface of the canvas "vibrates." Under Seurat's guidance, in 1883 Signac had discovered the potential of Divisionism in respect to colour, nothing - in line with the research conducted by the chemist Eugène Chevreul - that, in terms of the way the retina causes them to be perceived visually, two dots of colour blend. With the objective of achieving the "instantaneousness" so characteristic of his future work, Signac, worked relentlessly, developing the spontaneity of his brushwork and brightening his palette.