Background
Paul Signac was born on November 11, 1863 in Paris, France. He was a son of Jules Jean-Baptiste Signac, a harness and saddle maker, and Héloïse Anaïs-Eugénie (Deudon) Signac. Their family lived above the shop, run by Paul's father.
12 Avenue Trudaine, 75009 Paris, France
In 1877, Signac enrolled at the Collège Rollin in Montmartre (present-day the Collège-lycée Jacques-Decour). He remained a student there until 1880.
Paul Signac with his palette, approximately in 1883.
Paul Signac was born on November 11, 1863 in Paris, France. He was a son of Jules Jean-Baptiste Signac, a harness and saddle maker, and Héloïse Anaïs-Eugénie (Deudon) Signac. Their family lived above the shop, run by Paul's father.
By 1877, Signac enrolled at the Collège Rollin in Montmartre (present-day the Collège-lycée Jacques-Decour). He remained a student there until 1880.
In 1883, Paul studied art under the guidance of Émile Bin.
The year 1880 was pivotal for Signac. In April of that year, he visited the fifth Impressionist exhibit and began making sketches of a painting by Edgar Degas. Paul Gaugin spotted him and threw the 16-year-old Signac out of the building. By the end of the year, he had begun painting and also taken up what became a lifelong hobby: boating. In 1881, Signac, along with six or seven others, formed an informal literary society, which they named Les Harengs Saurs Épileptiques Baudelairiens et Anti-Philistins ("The Epileptic, Baudelarian, Anti-philistine Smoked Herrings").
The next year, 1882, was a busy one for Paul. In February and March, he published two essays in the journal Le Chat Noir, and that summer, he began his habit of escaping Paris for the countryside or the sea to paint. His first similar trip was to his maternal grandmother's home in Guise, where he painted "The Haystack". Signac later designated this as his "first picture".
In 1884, Paul became involved with the French literary symbolists and cultivated their friendship. Among this group was journalist Felix Fénéon, who became one of Signac's staunchest allies. Paul also began selling his paintings that year. In May 1884, Signac met Monet in Paris and soon after met Georges Seurat, with whom he had a close friendship. On July 29, 1884, Signac, Seurat, Charles Angrand and Henri Edmond Cross formed the Société des Artistes Indépendants and from mid-December 1884 till January 17, 1885, the group held its exhibitions in Paris to benefit cholera victims.
Another important figure in fostering Signac's career was Pissarro, whom he met in early 1885. The next year, Paul was invited to exhibit in New York City at an exhibition, titled "Works in Oil and Pastel by the Impressionsts of Paris", although none of his six paintings were sold. By then Signac had painted "The Junction at bois-Colombes, The Gas Tanks at Clichy" and "Passage de Puits-Bertin, Clichy", all in the divisionist style, in which dots of contrasting color are placed side-by-side to create a luminous visual effect.
In the spring of 1886, Signac exhibited at the eighth and final Impressionist exhibition, though his and Seurat's presence in the exhibition caused something of a controversy, that was only smoothed over through Pissarro's intercession. The following year, in 1887, Signac met Vincent Van Gogh in Paris. The two not only became friends, but painted together in April and May. By the end of that year, Signac, Seurat, and Van Gogh had exhibited together.
In late January of 1888, Signac traveled to Brussels to exhibit at the Salon des XX. He also wrote a review of the exhibition, using the pen name Neo, that was published in the newspaper Le Cri du People. By this time, the exhibitions of the Société des Artistes Indépendants were well-established annual events thanks to Signac's efforts as an organizer. Although, Seurat was given first place among the Neo-Impressionists, critics had begun to appreciate Signac's contribution to the movement.
On March 29, 1891, Seurat died suddenly in Paris. The death of his friend thrust Signac into a primary position within the Neo-Impressionist movement. Pissarro, however, predicted the end of pointillism without Seurat. Indeed, Signac abandoned the technique in the early 20th century. Soon after Seurat's death, Signac anonymously published an article, titled "Impressionistes et révolutionnaires" in the literary supplement of La Révolte. The same year, in 1891, he sailed in several regattas off the coast of Brittany, and in 1892, had seven paintings exhibited in the eighth exhibition, held by the Neo-Impressionists. Later that year, Paul exhibited his work in Antwerp, and in December, showed seven paintings in the first Neo-Impressionist exhibit. The works, which he exhibited there, included such paintings, as "Portrait of My Mother", "The Dining Room" and "Woman Arranging Her Hair." Signac also made the first of many trips to Saint-Tropez to paint and relax.
At the end of 1893, the Neo-Impressionist Boutique was opened in Paris, and in 1894, Signac had an exhibition there of 40 of his watercolors. He exhibited widely in the late 1890's and early years of the 20th century in Paris, Brussels, Provence, Berlin, Hamburg, the Hague, Venice and elsewhere. In the 1890's, Paul became more involved with writing, working on a journal he had begun in 1894. In 1896, the anarchist journal "Les Temps nouveaux" published a black-and-white lithograph by Signac, titled "The Wreckers".
Also, in 1896, Signac began working on his study of Delacroix and in mid-1899, he published "D'Eugéne Delacroix au néo-impressionnisme", excerpts of which had already appeared in French and German journals. In 1903, the German edition was published.
In 1909, Signac exhibited three pieces, such as "Traghetto Lantern", "Diablerets" and "Port Decorated with Flags, Saint-Tropez" at the International Exhibition, better known as the Odessa Salon. After Odessa, the exhibition went to Kiev, Saint Petersburg and Riga. Beginning in 1910, Signac slowed his output from the incredible pace he had maintained for more than 20 years. His sole painting of that year was "The Channel, Marseilles", and in 1911, he painted only "Towers, Antibes". From there, his output increased to nine paintings in 1912-1913, but he never again painted at his earlier, youthful pace.
Paul was deeply affected by World War I and painted very little — in 1917, he acknowledged, that he had only painted seven pictures in three years, despite the fact, that in 1915, he was named as a painter to the department of the navy. The annual exhibitions, held by the Société des Artistes Indépendants, were suspended, and Signac himself rejected a call to resume the exhibitions during wartime.
By the time the war ended, Signac was involved in taking care of his finances. In December 1919, he entered into an agreement with three art dealers, turning over his artistic output to them at the rate of 21 oil paintings per year. The contract was renewed annually until 1928, when it was renegotiated.
In early 1920, the Société des Artistes Indépendants renewed their annual exhibition (their 31st that year), though Signac was too ill to fully participate. However, he recovered sufficiently by spring to assume the post of commissioner of the French Pavillion at the Venice Biennale, where he mounted a special Cézanne exhibit. All 17 of Signac's works, exhibited at the Biennale, were sold within a month. Long acknowledged in the communities of artists and collectors, his fame was further cemented in 1922, when he was the subject of a monograph by Lucie Cousturier. In 1927, Paul published a monograph of his own, devoted to the painter Johan Barthold Jongkind. In late 1928, he accepted a commission to paint the ports of France in watercolors. He began with the eastern Mediterranean port of Sète in January 1929 and worked his way south, then west and then northward. He continued working on the series until April 1931.
In failing health by 1934, the painter prepared for the 50th anniversary of the Société des Artistes Indépendants and its 45th exhibition. Signac's health generally deteriorated as the year wore on, and on November 7, 1934, he resigned as president of the Société (a post he held from 1908) and was succeeded by Maximilien Luce.
In January 1935, Paul participated in the 46th exhibition of the Société des Artistes Indépendants — it was his final one. In March of that year, he was invited to tour the USSR, but declined for health reasons. The following month, he was taken to his bed with what turned out to be his final illness. Signac lingered for most of the summer, but died in Paris on August 15, 1935.
Port of La Rochelle
Saint Tropez, gale from east
Portrait of Felix Feneon
Woman by a lamp
L'Hirondelle Steamer on the Seine
Paysage corse
Golfe Juan
Port en Bessin, the Beach
Antibes
The Look at Montauban in rain
Dutch Mill at Edam
The Velodrome
Collioure
The Bonaventure Pine
Comblat Castle
The Railway at Bois Colombes
Red silk stockings
The Dogana
Port Louis Lomalo
Railway junction near Bois Colombes
The Red Buoy, Saint Tropez
The Entrance to the Port of Marseille
Lighthouse at Groix
Comblat and the valley of the Cere
The Papal Palace, Avignon
Woman with a Parasol
The Portrait of Maximilien Luce
Rotterdam Harbour
Paris, Ponton des Bains Bailet
The Jetty at Cassis, Opus 198
Antibes, thunderstorms
Samois, Study Nr. 8
The Jetty
The Haystack
Boulevard de Clichy 1886
The Seine near Sevres
Rodez
The Entrance to the Grand Canal, Venice
Port of Saint Tropez
Le Havre with rain clouds
Au Temps D’harmonie
Young Women of Provence at the Well
Saint Briac, the marker Le Cheval
Saint Paul de Vence
The Harbour at Marseilles
Lézardrieux
Antibes, the towers
Antibes, Evening
The Road to Gennevilliers
Regatta in Concarneau
Port en Bessin, a Cliff
Concarneau (study)
Chateau de Comblat
Woman at her toilette wearing a purple corset
Study for Venice, Morning
The bay
Rue Caulaincourt. Mills on Montmarte
Saint Brac, Le Bechet
Capo di Noli
The Dining Room
Concarneau, Opus 221 (Adagio)
The Port of La Rochelle
Antibes, the Pink Cloud
Les Andelys
Marseille, an Old Port
Grand Canal (Venise)
The Port at Vlissingen, Boats and Lighthouses
The Port of St. Tropez
The Pine Tree at St. Tropez
The Milliner
Gasometers at Clichy
The Demolisher
Venice, The Pink Cloud
The Port of Saint Tropez
La Voile verte
View of the Port of Marseilles
Fisihing Boats
Sunday
An Old port of Marseille
The Lighthouse of Gatteville
River's Edge The Seine at Herblay
Carnival at Nice
Fecamp, Sunshine
Le Clipper, Asnieres
The House of Van Gogh (Arles, place Lamartine)
Le Corne d'Or, Le Pont
Floral still life
Fort Saint-Jean, Marseilles
Saint Briac, Courtyard of the Ville Hue
Paris, Quai de la Tournelle
Portrait of Conté
Still Life with a Book
Cap d'Antibes
Politics and finances occupied Signac in the last years of his life, which coincided with the Great Depression. Politically, Paul considered himself an anarchist, but toward the end of his life, he deeply opposed fascism. Also, in 1898, he signed a collective statement, supporting Emile Zola's position in the infamous Dreyfus Affair, and in 1906, Signac published an antimilitary drawing in the magazine "Le Courier européen".
In December 1931, the painter met Mahatma Gandhi in Paris. Despite his close friendship with Marcel Cachin, director of the French Communist Party daily newspaper "L'Humanité", Signac refused to join the party. He did, however, lend his support in 1932 to the Bureau of the World Committee against War and often attended meetings of the Vigilance Committee of Anti-Fascist Intellectuals.
In January 1933, Signac testified on behalf of Henri Guilbeaux, who had been sentenced to death in absentia for high treason in 1919. Guilbeaux ultimately returned from the Soviet Union and was acquitted.
Quotations:
"The golden age has not passed — it lies in the future."
"The anarchist painter is not the one who will create anarchist pictures, but the one who will fight with all his individuality against official conventions."
"The art of the colorist has in some ways elements of mathematics and music."
Paul Signac was fond of boating and during his lifetime, he owned 32 sailing crafts.
Signac married Berthe Roblès on November 7, 1892, at the town hall of the 18th arrondissement of Paris. The couple permanently separated in 1913, but they never divorced. The separation was amicable and they remained in contact with each other and Paul even provided his wife with financial support. In September of the same year, Signac began living with his lover, Jeanne Selmersheim-Desgrange, a painter, who gave birth to their daughter, Ginette-Laure-Anaïs Signac, on October 2, 1913.