Neo-Impressionist artist Paul Signac was born November 11, 1863 in Paris and during his career would help define the style of Pointillism—or precise and chromatic placements of paint to form smoothly arranged scenes. Another major Pointillist and colleague of Signac was of course Georges Seurat.
Signac was an avid sailor, and one of his boats was named Olympia, in honor of Manet’s scandalous nude painting of 1865. Signac’s portrait of his friend, art critic and visionary Felix Fénéon, was done in 1890, but it’s so progressively composed and uses such dynamic colors that it looks almost like a work by Peter Max or some major classic 1970s album cover.
Signac was an avid sailor, and one of his boats was named Olympia, in honor of Manet’s scandalous nude painting of 1865. Signac’s portrait of his friend, art critic and visionary Felix Fénéon, was done in 1890, but it’s so progressively composed and uses such dynamic colors that it looks almost like a work by Peter Max or some major classic 1970s album cover.
Signac died in 1935 at the age of 72. Click here to see the beautiful range of his work and for more biographical information.
(Pictured: Portrait of Felix Fénéon [Against the Enamel of Background Rhythmic with Beats and Angels, Tones and Tones and Colours] -- Paul Signac, 1890)
