Signac, Paul (1863-1935)

French artist. Associated with Seurat in the development of pointillism, he is best known for his landscapes and seascapes painted in mosaic-like blocks of pure colour. One of his most striking works is his Portrait of Félix Fénéon (1980; J Logan Collection, New York).

His first works were strongly influenced by the Impressionism of Monet, but in 1884, when he joined with Seurat in founding the Salon des Artistes Indépendants, he became a passionate and lifelong advocate of pointillism. He produced many striking landscapes and seascapes of the Normandy, Brittany, and Mediterranean coasts, his love of ships and the sea finding expression in many watercolours as well as oils. His book D'Eugène Delacroix au Néo-Impressionisme/From Delacroix to Neo-Impressionism (1899) was the fullest statement of pointillist aesthetics.