Paul Signac

Paul Signac was a French painter born on November 11, 1863, in Paris. He is a major figure in the neo-impressionist movement. He was the instigator of this movement alongside his friend Georges Seurat. Signac is also known for his watercolors, a technique he focused on intensely in the last fifteen years of his life. The sea became his preferred subject.

Signac grew up in a relatively privileged environment and he began painting at the age of 16. An impressionist exhibition inspired him, where he discovered artists like Gustave Caillebotte, Mary Cassatt, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, and Camille Pissarro. He even bought a painting by Cézanne at that time, despite his peers’ mockery. In 1880, after his father’s death his mother wanted him to become an architect but he decided to dedicate himself entirely to painting.

From 1882, he attended the studio of painter Émile Blin in Montmartre. He met Père Tanguy who was a color merchant who traded material for artworks with the impressionist artists. Signac painted outdoors in Port-en-Bessin and Asnières, where he lived. His early works were influenced by other impressionists such as Claude Monet and Armand Guillaumin. In 1884, he participated in the first “ Salon des Artistes Indépendants ” , which allowed artists to express themselves freely. In 1908, Signac will become the president of the salon and so on for  the next25 years. As a result, he turned the salon into an artistic hub in France, contributing to avant-garde movements like Fauvism, Futurism, and Abstraction.

At the Salon in 1884, Signac met Georges Seurat. Their friendship profoundly impacted his artistic journey. Signac moved away from the impressionist touch to adopt a divisionist technique. This technique involved juxtaposing small touches of pure color on the canvas to create optical effects.

In 1886, he was invited by Pissarro to exhibit his first divisionist works at the 8th impressionist exhibition. Art critic Félix Fénéon coined the term “neo-impressionism” at this event, placing Signac in a leading position.

The following year, Signac met Vincent Van Gogh and exchanged ideas with him. In 1892, he settled in Saint-Tropez where creating his first watercolors enhanced with Chinese ink. His works became brighter and more colorful, with an increased focus on patterns. By 1894, he stopped using oil paint to concentrate on watercolor. Signac presented a series of these watercolors at the Salon des XX in Brussels and participated in an exhibition in Berlin in 1897, where he achieved great success. In 1899, he published a book titled *From Eugène Delacroix to Neo-Impressionism*, which greatly influenced future generations of painters.

Signac continued to refine his watercolor technique and traveled extensively for the rest of his life.