Paul Signac

Paul Signac Saint-Malo. Goélettes à quai 1928 Watercolor and black chalk on handmade paper. 27.8 x 45 cm. Framed under glass. Signed, dated and titled in black chalk lower right 'P. Signac St. Malo 28' and marked with color details in the lower part. - The colors freshly preserved, the paper with narrow light margin. The paper sheet mounted on light cardboard. With an expertise of Marina Ferretti, Paris, dated April 11, 2023. Provenance 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 harbor 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 can be 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.