Paul Signac

Signac, Paul 

Born Nov. 11, 1863, in Paris; died there Aug. 15, 1935. French painter and engraver.

Signac studied in Paris at the Académie Privée de Bing. At first he was influenced by impressionism. In 1886, under the influence of Seurat and Pissarro, he turned to neo-impression-ism, consequently becoming the movement’s major theorist and one of its leading painters. In a number of his works, Signac adhered strictly to Seurat’s doctrine of dividing colors into their component parts, yet the flatness and ornamental character of his works anticipated art nouveau (Portrait of Félix Fénéon, 1890, private collection, New York). In his other works, primarily seascapes, Signac used various tonal combinations to capture a particular emotion (View of the Port of Marseilles, 1911, National Museum of Modern Art, Paris).

In 1884, Signac helped organize the Salon des Indépendants. An active public figure, he supported the principles of the French Communist Party. Signac visited the USSR in the 1930’s.

WORKS

Ot Ezh. Delakrua k neoimpressionizmu. Moscow, 1913. (Translated from French.)