Representating Light and Color: Neo-Impressionism

Blessing of the Tuna Fleet at Groix, 1923 by Paul Signac, French, 1863-1935; oil on canvas. 
Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  Click on image to enlarge.

While visiting the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, I always try to stop by the "fleet" to see Signac's painting in  person.  We have a fairly decent copy of this painting in the entryway in our home.  The texture and movement, the thick brush strokes and depth of  paint could never be captured in a two-dimensional copy, however, no matter how good the print.  I am even intrigued by the flaws in the weaving of the cloth on this particular canvas; it's as if the artist incorporated the flaw into the composition and movement of the clouds.  I don't think he was financially struggling, and yet he chose to use a flawed canvas to dedicate hours of precise and detailed work - very interesting.  Would many painters today make such a choice......good question!  Would you?

Signac is considered a Neo-Impressionist.  He was initially influenced by Monet and the fragmentation of light.  His technique became more and more about rendering patterns of light and allowing the viewer to put the colors together rather than mixing the colors himself prior to brushing them on the canvas.   He sometimes met with other artists practicing the same style of painting, including Seurat and Van Gogh.

Many of his images involve water and sailing, both of which were of great interest to him.  Although he began as an architect, he broadened his work to oil on canvas, pen and ink, watercolor, etching and lithographs - many using dots to create depth, contours, and shadows.  Politically, many of his closest friends were anarchists, which some say is reflected in his artistic style.