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Paul Signac

Venetian Scene, 1919

Description

Maker

  • Paul Signac, 1863-1935, French

Title

Venetian Scene

Year

1919

Medium

Watercolor and graphite on laid paper

Dimensions

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

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signed LR

Type

  • Works on Paper,
  • Drawings and Watercolors

Credit

Gift of the Fazzano Brothers

Object Number

84.198.1080

Projects & Publications

Publications

Pilgrims of Beauty

Art and Inspiration in 19th-Century Italy
Read Online

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Pilgrims of Beauty

February 3 - July 8, 2012

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.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Venetian Scene with the accession number of 84.198.1080. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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