Paintings of Paul Signac 13: Watercolours to 1918

Over the last three months, I’ve shown many of the oil paintings of Paul Signac (1863-1935), but have omitted his watercolours. During his early career, he seems to have used these primarily as preparatory sketches made in front of his motif, then recomposed and adjusted them to form the basis of his studio oil paintings. Given the painstakingly slow pointillist technique, it’s hardly surprising that he found this preferable to alternatives such as oil sketching.

In time, he was persuaded to exhibit these sketches, and by the twentieth century they came to form a substantial part of his art that was seen by the public. In this and the next couple of articles I show a small selection from these. Sadly, most of his watercolours from before 1918 are no longer accessible, but here are a few from that period that reveal Signac’s other art, completely different from his oil…