Paul Signac facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Paul Signac
Paul Signac with his palette, ca. 1883
Born	Paul Victor Jules Signac (1863-11-11)11 November 1863 Paris, France
Died	15 August 1935(1935-08-15) (aged 71) Paris, France
Nationality	French
Known for	Painting
Movement	Post-Impressionism, Neo-impressionism, Pointillism, Divisionism

Paul Signac (born November 11, 1863 – died August 15, 1935) was a French painter. He was a key figure in the Neo-Impressionist art movement. Working with his friend Georges Seurat, Signac helped create the unique painting style called Pointillism.

Paul Signac's Life and Art

Paul Signac was born in Paris, France, in 1863. He first studied architecture. But at age 18, he saw an exhibit of Claude Monet's paintings. This inspired him to become a painter instead.

Paul Signac, Portrait of Félix Fénéon, 1890. This painting shows tiny dots of color.

Georges Seurat Portrait of Paul Signac, 1890.

In 1884, Signac met famous artists like Claude Monet and Georges Seurat. He was very impressed by Seurat's careful way of painting. Seurat also had a special theory about colors. Signac became a loyal friend and supporter of Seurat.

Under Seurat's influence, Signac stopped using the short brushstrokes of Impressionism. Instead, he started to experiment. He used tiny dots of pure color placed side-by-side. These dots were meant to mix in the viewer's eye, not on the canvas. This special technique is what we call Pointillism. It's also part of Neo-impressionism and Divisionism.

Signac loved to paint the French coast and water scenes. Every summer, he would leave Paris. He often stayed in the south of France, in places like Collioure or St. Tropez. He even bought a house in St. Tropez and invited his artist friends to visit. He sailed around Europe's coasts, painting the beautiful places he saw. Later in his life, he also painted many watercolors of French harbor cities.

Founding the Société des Artistes Indépendants

Paul Signac, along with Albert Dubois-Pillet, Odilon Redon, and Georges Seurat, helped start an important art group. It was called the Société des Artistes Indépendants. This group began in Paris on July 29, 1884.

Their main idea was "No jury nor awards." This meant artists could show their work freely. There would be no judges to decide if their art was good enough. For the next 30 years, their yearly art shows helped set new trends in art.

In the Time of Harmony. The Golden Age is not in the Past, it is in the Future, 1893–95. This large painting shows Signac's vision of a peaceful future.

In 1905, Henri Matisse showed his famous painting Luxe, Calme et Volupté at one of these shows. Matisse had painted it using the Divisionist technique. He learned this style from Signac and Henri-Edmond Cross while working in St. Tropez. Signac even bought Matisse's painting after the show.

Signac was elected president of the Société des Artistes Indépendants in 1908. He held this position until he died. He helped many younger artists. He was one of the first people to buy a painting by Matisse. He also supported new art styles like Fauvism and Cubism by showing their works.

Signac's Connections with Other Artists

In 1886, Signac met Vincent van Gogh in Paris. The two artists often went to Asnières-sur-Seine together. They painted river scenes and cafés. Van Gogh admired Signac's free painting style. In 1889, Signac visited Van Gogh in Arles.

The next year, Signac took a short trip to Italy. He visited cities like Genoa, Florence, and Naples.

Signac's Social Ideas

In 1888, Signac became interested in anarchist ideas. He read books by thinkers like Elisee Reclus and Peter Kropotkin. These ideas were about creating a society with more freedom and equality.

Signac and his friends, including Maximilien Luce and Camille Pissarro, wrote for a newspaper called Les Temps Nouveaux (New Times). Signac also gave a lot of money to support this paper. He even donated his paintings for lotteries to help raise funds.

His 1893 painting, In the Time of Harmony, was first called In the Time of Anarchy. But because of political issues at the time, he had to change the title.

Sailing and Painting Styles

Signac loved sailing. Starting in 1892, he traveled on his small boat to many ports. He sailed all around France, to the Netherlands, and even to Constantinople in the Mediterranean. He often based his boat in St. Tropez, a place he "discovered" for painting.

From his travels, Signac brought back bright, colorful watercolors. He sketched these quickly while looking at nature. Later, he would use these sketches to create large paintings in his studio. These studio paintings were made with small, mosaic-like squares of color. This was a bit different from the tiny dots Seurat used.

Signac also tried different art forms. Besides oil paintings and watercolors, he made etchings and lithographs. He also created many pen-and-ink sketches using small, careful dots. The Neo-Impressionists, including Signac, greatly influenced the next generation of artists. Signac especially inspired Henri Matisse and André Derain, which helped lead to the Fauvism art movement.

Signac as a Writer

Signac wrote several important books about art theory. One of his most famous works is From Eugène Delacroix to Neo-Impressionism, published in 1899. He also wrote a book about the artist Johan Barthold Jongkind. He wrote introductions for art show catalogs and many other pieces that were not published during his lifetime.

Like many of his friends, including Félix Fénéon and Camille Pissarro, Signac held anarchist beliefs.

Images for kids

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  Portrait of his wife, Berthe, painted at Saint-Tropez by Paul Signac, 1893, Femme à l'ombrelle (Woman with Umbrella), oil on canvas, 81 x 65 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

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  Road to Gennevilliers, 1883, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

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  Comblat le Chateau. Le Pré. 1886, Dallas Museum of Art

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  Snow, Boulevard de Clichy, Paris (1886), Minneapolis Institute of Art

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  Cassis, Cap Lombard, Opus 196, 1889, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

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  Place des Lices, 1893, oil on canvas, Carnegie Museum of Art

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  Golfe-Juan, ca. 1896, Worcester Art Museum

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  Le Démolisseur (between 1897 and 1899), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nancy

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  Grand Canal (Venice), 1905, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio

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  Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde (La Bonne-Mère) Marseilles, 1905–06, Metropolitan Museum of Art

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  The Port of Rotterdam, 1907, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

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  The Port of Marseille, 1907, Hermitage Museum

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  The Pine Tree at Saint Tropez, 1909, Pushkin Museum, Moscow

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  Antibes, 1911, Albertina, Vienna

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  Antibes le soir, 1914, Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

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  Entrée du port de la Rochelle, 1921, oil on canvas, 130.5 x 162 cm (51.4 × 63.8 in), Musée d'Orsay

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  Blessing of the Tuna Fleet at Groix, 1923, Minneapolis Institute of Art

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  Le phare, Groix, 1925, oil on canvas, 74 × 92.4 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art

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  Almond Flowers in Bloom, 1896

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  Les Andelys, Côte d'Aval, 1886, oil on canvas, 60 × 92 cm, Art Institute of Chicago

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  The Port of Saint-Tropez, 1901, oil on canvas, 131 x 161.5 cm (51.6 x 63.6 in), National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo

See also

In Spanish: Paul Signac para niños