Paul Signac (1863 – 1935) Lady on the Terrace 1898
Linkage & Integration in the Primary Curriculum:
Visual Art Strands: All
Concept & skills development in each level:
Line, Shape, Form, Colour & Tone, Texture, Pattern & Rhythm, Space
Music Strand: Listening and responding / Performing / Composing
English Strand: Oral language, reading and writing
Gaeilge Strand: éisteacht, labhairt, léitheoireacht & scríbhneoireacht
About the artist:
Paul Signac was born in Paris and came from a wealthy family of shopkeepers. His family wanted him to become an architect, but in 1880 he visited an exhibition of paintings by Claude Monet and decided to become an artist. He began painting outdoors in the Impressionist manner and studying works by Manet, Monet, and other Impressionist artists.
He was a founder member of the Salon des Indépendants and there he met Georges Seurat which led to Signac adopting Seurat’s new method of painting. The two men worked closely on developing a theory of colour division and they soon began painting using new pointillist brushstrokes. His early works were full of energy – he later described them as having "consisted in pasting reds, greens, blues and yellows, without much care but with enthusiasm".
Signac was fascinated by the links between music and painting, and was inspired to paint a series of images of the sea after listening to a symphony. Signac famously compared the ideas behind pointillism to the music produced by an orchestra:
''In order to listen to a symphony, you don't sit in the middle of the orchestra, but in the position where the sounds from the various instruments mingle, creating the harmony desired by the composer,'' he wrote. ''Similarly, faced by a 'divided' painting,
it is best to first stand at a sufficient distance in order to absorb the whole, before moving closer to study the chromatic effects up close''.
By 1892 when he moved from Paris to St Tropez, Signac’s method of painting had changed. He now made preliminary sketches and watercolours, what he described as ‘noted’ outdoors and painted his finished works back in his studio (unlike the Impressionists). Signac’s main theme throughout his life was a focus on the beauty of pure colour. From 1890 his dots of paint grew larger and became squares adapted to fit with his pictures that were conceived as a form of mosaic.
Signac exhibited every year in the Salon des Indépendants but his art was not publicly recognised until his first one man show in 1902. Within the history of art, Seurat is known as the founder of Divisionism, but Signac can be recognised as making its principles known. He wrote the key text on the technique and promoted a freedom of colour that would influence such artists as Camille Pissarro, Vincent Van Gogh and Henri Matisse.
Explanation of terms related to Signac’s style of art:
Divisionism is a term that refers directly to the separation of colour. It is a term that was invented by Paul Signac. It follows the rules of colour contrasts which were intended to produce maximum brilliance scientifically and avoid muddiness caused by physically mixing colours before applying them to the canvas.
Pointillism specifically refers to the technique of applying dots of pure colour.
Neo-Impressionist is the name given to those painters that followed the rules of Divisionism and used the Pointillist technique. The Neo-Impressionism movement flourished between 1886 and 1906. The term was coined by the art critic Felix Fénéon in homage to the Impressionists but also acknowledging this new group’s innovations. Fénéon felt that whilst Impressionism was linked with instinct and spontaneity Neo-Impressionism was based on reflection and permanence.
Post Impressionism By the 1890’s a number of different styles (that were either a development of Impressionism or a reaction to it), began to emerge. Many of the artists involved were aware of each other’s work and often shared ideas and even worked together for a time. However, unlike the Impressionists, they were not an
organized group and much of their work is unrelated. The terms Post-Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism are used to describe the work of these artists working in new styles from c. 1880 to the beginning of the 20th Century. Paul Signac and George Seurat are not only Neo- Impressionists but they can also be said to be Post – Impressionists. Other famous Post Impressionists are Paul Cezanne, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gaugain and Henri Matisse among others.
About the painting:
Signac’s wife, Berthe, posed for the figure on the terrace of their home in St Tropez in the South of France. The couple sailed there on his boat ‘Olympia’ after the death of Seurat in 1892. Signac had this terrace constructed especially so that they could benefit from the magnificent views of the village of St Tropez and the view of the sea and mountains beyond. The work is painted in late afternoon light, taking great liberty with the colour, and using loose brush strokes that follow the shape of the trees and the movement of the clouds. This painting is typical of Signac’s later style which transformed into a looser and freer, less systematic and more decorative Divisionism.
Talking about this painting with children:
The painting is made up of both cold and warm colours. The foreground is painted in warm pinks and purples and the mountains are painted in cool blues as the sun goes down behind them. Signac never used black in his paintings. The shadows are made of dark blues, green, and purple placed beside each other.
Although Signac has taken great liberty with the colour and brushwork of this composition, the sense of the warmth of the late afternoon light still manages to come through on the canvas.
The figure of Berthe is heavily outlined and her still, upright pose is echoed in the tall cypress tree on the left and again in the towers of the buildings in the distance. She holds a book and shawl/blanket. If it’s a shawl then perhaps the evening will be cooler and Berthe may need an extra layer of clothing, and if it’s a blanket we can imagine that she is about to lay it on the terrace and sit down to read her book. What do you think? There is a very quiet atmosphere and stillness to the scene. Do you think the motionless Berthe looks like a statue? What do you think she is thinking about?
The land in front of the terrace could be a vine-yard or it could also portray a field of lavender but you can ask the children what they think is growing in the field. If it is lavender – imagine the smell coming from the field? This can lead to the topic of the Mediterranean food and culture. What kinds of crops are commonly grown around the Mediterranean coasts? What is a typical Mediterranean diet? What are the differences between this culture and Irish culture?
Suggested Projects
Visual Art
• This painting is very popular with children and the pointillist technique can be readily imitated. Children can produce their own work entirely out of dots of paint or create a mosaic using tiny squares of coloured paper.
• Plan a class around the creation of a colour wheel. Have the colour-wheel circles already drawn and cut out. The students can then make their own colour wheel. • Signac uses a combination of warm and cool colours. Discuss warm and cool
colours using examples. Why would an artist choose warm or cool colours for their painting? What subjects would suit warm colours? What subjects would suit cool colours?
• Create some works of art using a single combination of warm or cool colours such as reds, purples and oranges, or yellows, greens and blues. Encourage the children to use dark blues and purples instead of blacks for shadows and darker areas.
Language
• Encourage the children to talk about this picture in the context of landscapes and seascapes and hot summer days.
• Ask them to write about their memory of a favourite summer’s day.
• Discuss words that describe the picture. Find descriptive words for the sense of stillness and peace in the painting, and use these as a basis for some creative writing, poems or prose.
• Make a list of everyday expressions that use colour to describe feelings such as ‘red as beetroot’ or ‘blue with cold’ – use some of the art terms.
Music
• Listen to Debussy’s La Mer – supposedly inspired by Hokusai’s The Great Wave (see link below). Discuss whether the music ‘sounds like’ the painting. Can they identify individual instruments? Can they make a connection to Signac’s pointillist technique? What type of music might ‘go with’ Signac’s painting? What would his painting of the sea ‘sound like’?
External links:
Signac’s complete works http://www.paul-signac.org/
Signac’s Water Music http://blogs.princeton.edu/wri152-3/s06/cgioia/
Debussy’s La Mer (played by the London Symphony Orchestra) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoRSTRwGUSY
Hokusai, The Great Wave
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/asia/k/hokusai,_th e_great_wave.aspx
Note: The National Gallery of Ireland takes no responsibility for the content or availability of external websites.
