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Paul Signac

Venetian Scene

Maker

Paul Signac (French, 1863-1935)

Title

Venetian Scene

Year

1919

Medium

  • Watercolor and graphite on laid paper

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Watercolor and graphite on laid paper

Materials

null

Dimensions

12.1 x 19.8 cm (4 3/4 x 7 13/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signed LR

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of the Fazzano Brothers

Object Number

84.198.1080

Type

  • Drawings and Watercolors

Publications

  • Journal

Pilgrims of Beauty: Art and Inspiration in 19th-Century Italy

Exhibition History

Pilgrims of Beauty
Art and Inspiration in 19th-Century Italy
Feb 03, 2012 – Jul 08, 2012

Label copy

Admiration for the Venetian work of J.M.W. Turner prompted the Neo-Impressionist painter Paul Signac to visit Venice often during the final decades of his career. Unlike the energetic and painterly swirls of Turner’s watercolors, Signac depicted sailboats, steeples, and sky with a carefully controlled approach to color. Following the rules of divisionism (also known as pointillism), he worked in discrete dots or patches of color, which the viewer’s eyes must blend and combine. Like Sargent and Whistler, Signac enjoyed painting outdoors from a gondola, producing small watercolors like this view of the rear of the church and bell tower of San Giorgio Maggiore, with the city further across the lagoon on the horizon. He called these watercolors “notations,” using them as inspiration for large works on canvas.

Image use

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Paul Signac (French, 1863-1935)
Venetian Scene, 1919
Watercolor and graphite on laid paper
12.1 x 19.8 cm (4 3/4 x 7 13/16 inches)
Gift of the Fazzano Brothers 84.198.1080

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

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