Wikimedia Commons • Public Domain
Port en Bessin, the Beach
by Paul Signac
StylePost-Impressionism
GenreMarine
Artwork Details
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Paul Signac returned to Port-en-Bessin in 1884 to paint another view of the same location he had captured the previous summer. The narrow strip of sandy beach functions as the central visual axis, glowing brightly against the dominant green and blue tones of the composition.
In contrast to the flat treatment of the cloudless sky, other elements are delineated using shimmering, impasto brushstrokes. The work captures the energy of the twenty-year-old painter who had chosen this modest Norman fishing village for his summer campaigns. Signac was still working under the influence of Monet, Guillaumin, and Caillebotte at this time, before his collaboration with Seurat transformed his approach.
A few months after painting this, Signac befriended Seurat during the creation of the first Salon des Indépendants. Together they would develop Neo-Impressionism. This painting is now at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid.
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About Port en Bessin, the Beach
This painting is at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, Spain. It dates from Signac's pre-Pointillist period.
Signac met Seurat in 1884 during the first Salon des Indépendants, a few months after painting this. Together they developed Neo-Impressionism Paul Signac created it as part of the French artistic tradition.
At this time Signac was influenced by Monet, Guillaumin, and Caillebotte. His later Pointillist style hadn't yet developed.
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