French painter, author of several books about art and a yachtsman has a reputation as a versatile person. Already during his lifetime, this man became a recognized classic and the main representative of neo-impressionism. For his services, he was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor. And after his death at the age of 71, contemporaries said that the talented artist had three beloved and boundless horizons - art, sea and humanity.
Dream of painting
Progressive artist of the XIX century Signac Paul was born in Paris in 1863 in the family of a prosperous merchant. He recalled that his childhood was completely carefree and caressed by parental love.
After graduating from college, Paul declares to his parents that he does not intend to go to university, but wants to fulfill the main dream of his life - to become a painter. Researchers of Signac’s work are sure that such a desire is dictated by his father’s hobby: at his leisure, he sketched landscapes, and the boy, as if bewitched, watched the birth of amateur paintings. And the neighborhood with Montmartre, which housed the art workshops of French talent, left its mark.
Case at the exhibition
Parents did not resist the desire of his only son to be creative. Signac Paul is completely immersed in contemporary art, visiting all art exhibitions and starting to copy the works of famous impressionists. There an unusual incident occurred with him, which the young man recalled without much pleasure.
At the impressionist exhibition, Paul, taking with him paper and pencils, began to carefully redraw the picture of Degas. A debutant and a little-known Gauguin approached him immediately with a demand to stop copying. The young man had to retreat in disgrace.
Monet admirer
In 1880, his father died, who left a good condition for his son, not particularly concerned about finding work, but only busy with his work.
Thinking about studying, which would fully develop his talent, Signac did not even think to enter the School of Fine Arts, realizing that he was not on the way with the standard teaching of traditional painting. He idolized Monet's work, admiring his transfer of the Seine River. According to the future genius, only impressionism can accurately depict the elusive movements of water flows and the amazing game of sun glare on it.
Paul dreams of meeting with his beloved artist to find out all the secrets of his work. He writes an enthusiastic letter to the venerable painter asking him to accept it. The meeting was held, but Signac was extremely dissatisfied with the cold reception of the master, who did not answer the questions of interest to the young man, sending him to gain experience from his works and noting that he was not engaged in mentoring.
Pictures painted in the sea
Paul Signac, whose biography is marked by creative ups, already in 1882 he painted his first paintings, imitating his beloved author. He was always interested in the transmission of natural variability in the paintings of the Impressionists, talented in depicting water ripples and reflections in the river. To draw from life, Signac acquires a small sailing boat, which he often travels and makes sketches. Rowing was becoming a very popular sport at that time, and many artists paid tribute to it by buying swimming equipment for their work.
One of the significant works of the painter is the painting “The Cross of Sailors”. The seascape conveys the artist’s sad thoughts about the tragic games of mankind with natural elements and resembles Monet’s canvases.
Pointillism and Neo-Impressionism
Paul Signac, whose paintings were painted by applying dotted strokes of pure unmixed colors, used the method of pointillism, borrowed from his friend - artist J. Ser.
When considering his paintings from a certain angle, the human eye perceives the work as a single whole. Before starting to paint in this manner, Paul studied theories about the laws of optical perception and color solutions for a long time.
Difference from impressionists
This is the difference between Signac's paintings and the Impressionists, who impose colors on their canvases unknowingly, guided only by their intuition. The painter outlined the principles of a new direction in art in a book in which he called his style neo-Impressionism. He kept a diary, where he recorded all the observations of the play of color and light.
This technique allowed you to create real masterpieces of landscape painting, but it was not suitable for the portrait genre.
Smears
The "Papal Palace in Avignon", written in 1890, perfectly demonstrates the manner of Signac's writing. The smallest strokes of paints not mixed with each other lie exactly, visually creating an integral picture of the palace in France. To his left, the artist depicts a bridge created by paints of green shades. Nearby, the painter applies strokes of a different color, without mixing them together.
And if near the picture looks like a canvas consisting of small specks, then at a distance the strokes merge, forming the integrity of the work. Having studied the theory of optical effects, Signac took into account the finds of the Impressionists in painting, remembering that when the lighting changes, the colors of the picture change.
Inspired by the landscapes of Saint-Tropez
Since 1892, the artist Paul Signac has discovered the beauty of the Mediterranean nature of France. He leaves south of the country for the town of Saint-Tropez, which fascinated him so much that the brush master decides to stay here. In the rebuilt house, from the windows of which a magical world opens onto the rippling sea, the master gives himself a room for work. Here he is visited by inspiration, and the artist creates completed watercolor sketches, recognized as one of his best works. It is believed that it was here that his neo-impressionist talent was fully revealed.
He often addresses the theme of trees, depicting the power of nature on canvas. On the canvas “Pine in Saint-Tropez”, the sprawling crown of the tree subjugates the landscape, and the flexibility and movement of the branches is conveyed by strokes of various styles. The artist, whose writing style is similar to mosaic, complicates the pictorial texture and changes the color scheme, moving from pastel tones to bright contrasts.
Work in the workshop, not in nature
The student of the great artist described the master’s working studio in this way: “Not a single event taking place on the sea can escape from the window of his house. In the workshop, the sun's rays pour through a huge opening, making surrounding objects bright spots. "
The neo-impressionist artist no longer works, as before, in the open. He only creates sketches, sketches, giving them a finished look in his workshop.
The talented master, who wrote several works on the history of painting, which have become reference books for many artists, even received the nickname "St. Paul" for popularizing his genre.
Artist and yachtsman
Signac Paul, who loves sailing, competes and often wins. He travels a lot, and in every city new masterpieces are born. Not a single moment escapes the painter's keen eye - he easily conveys the play of glare of sunlight on the water surface, the sails of the ship swollen from the gusts of wind, and the yachts swaying on the sea waves. He even captured the races in the film “Regatta in Concarneau”, conveying the movement of sailboats rushing through the water.
Light-filled masterpieces
Signac's canvases are literally filled with light. Heavily experiencing the beginning of the First World War and the revolution in Russia, the artist does not transfer his disturbing thoughts to his paintings, without overshadowing the harmonious works in which nature and people live in complete harmony. With the development of industry, industrial motifs appear in its landscapes.
Experiments in painting
Signac Paul, who works in the neo-impressionism genre, is passionate about graphics. He had his own theory on this subject, in which the horizontal line, according to the artist, conveyed a sense of peace, descending down meant sadness, and the upward depicting joy and happiness.
The recognized genius worked in oil and watercolor paints, created lithographs and engravings, with the help of ink points he made sketches of future paintings. Fascinated by the technique of Byzantine mosaics, he moved from the smallest strokes to drawing small squares on the canvas that formed an integral picture.
For about thirty years, Paul served as president of the Society of Independent Artists, supporting the young talents in every way. He was an inspiration and example for A. Matisse and became the buyer of his first work.
Hermitage Museum. Signac Pictures
Painted after a trip to Marseille in 1907, a painting executed in the technique of pointillism is in the State Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg. “Harbor in Marseille” entered the Russian Museum in the thirties of the last century. Prior to that, she was in the collection of the famous philanthropist I. A. Morozov, who was buying up unique masterpieces in Europe.
The Hermitage Fund in 1931 received an engraving of Signac called “Ships”.
In 2012, the Hermitage launches a unique gift edition called “Sea voyage”. The paintings of famous artists, including Signac, are accompanied by descriptions and talk about the emergence of the marina genre.
I would like to end the story about the famous painter with his words in which he describes himself: “I sacrificed myself for the sake of art, and only in this can I be reproached. I worked from morning to night, taking care of fame and fortune. Now you know my whole life. ”