Paul Signac

Paul Signac La Rochelle, le phare 1926 Watercolor and black chalk on handmade paper. 28.8 x 44.6 cm. Framed under glass. Signed lower left in black chalk, dated and titled 'P. Signac La Rochelle 1926'. - Extremely fresh in color, the paper very lightly browned with narrow light and browning margins. The top and bottom margins minimally trimmed, the paper sheet mounted on light cardboard. With a confirmation from Françoise Chibret, Galerie de la Présidence, Paris. With a confirming letter from Françoise Cachin, Catalogue Raisonné de l'oeuvre peint de Paul Signac, Paris, dated December 16, 1991. Provenance Gaston Lévy Collection, Paris; Galerie Vildrac, Paris (with old label on the frame cardboard); Galerie de la Présidence, Paris; Private collection Bavaria. Paul Signac was a passionate sailor and owned several sailboats himself, which were anchored in the harbor of Saint-Tropez. This passion and the glistening light on the French coasts were his inspiration and starting point for a whole series of luminous port and coastal paintings. Like Claude Monet before him, Signac's painterly journey began in Normandy, the cradle of Impressionism. Not far from there is Saint-Malo in Brittany, where many painters from Paris were drawn since there was a direct rail connection. The extraordinary light conditions on the peninsula, coupled with the exoticism of the region, also inspired Signac, who for the offered watercolor "Saint-Malo" two imposing three-master in the harbor in view. With few but sure brushstrokes in blue, yellow, red, and violet, he sketched a serene maritime scene, positioning the left ship to skillfully draw our gaze into the depths. Using the wavy lines to suggest the passing clouds, he also managed to convey the gathering wind. From the 1920s on, Signac also liked to spend his summers on the Atlantic coast in La Rochelle on the Bay of Biscay, which is still considered the city of sailors today. The medieval harbor with its fortifications and the old lighthouse are found as motifs in the second watercolor "La Rochelle. Le phare" as motifs again. With a unique feeling for color and thousands of brush dabs as well as short strokes in intense green and blue, Signac conjured up this maritime scene on paper.