Port en Bessin, a Cliff

Paul Signac completed this views of the Norman fishing port of Port-en-Bessin during several summers in the early 1880s. At seventeen, the young artist with a passion for sailing chose this modest coastal village for his first extended painting campaign. He returned in 1883 and 1884, executing a series dedicated to the various aspects of the port.

The 1883 landscapes show the influence of Monet, whose views of Pourville and Varengeville Signac had seen at the Durand-Ruel gallery. His brushstrokes are long and brightly colored for the embankment, curved and forceful to express the waves and surf, conveying the energy of the young painter. These works predate his later development of Pointillism with Georges Seurat.

This painting is in a private collection. Signac later recommended Port-en-Bessin to Seurat, who painted his own famous series there in 1888 using the Neo-Impressionist technique they had developed together. For fans of coastal art, Signac's Norman views capture the Atlantic shoreline beautifully.