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Lot Essay
Built by Henri III, enlarged by Henri IV, the Pont Neuf is the centre of Paris' commercial and social life, connecting the rive droite with the Ile de la Cit, the island once known as Lutetia, where the first inhabitants settled in the 3rd century BC. The Impressionists chose the Pont Neuf as a favourite subject matter, concentrating on the movement of people across the bridge, and capturing 'impressions' of the animated crowd, standing at the foot of the sculpture of Henri IV or walking towards the island from the right bank. Renoir, Monet and Pissarro all executed celebrated paintings of the bridge and the traffic across it.
Signac, on the contrary, was uninspired by the depiction of the people on the bridge - it was the panoramic view of the Seine that interested him. The view of the river, framed by the bank's luxuriant trees and the archetypal silhouette of Notre Dame, allowed the synthetised study of linear tensions and chromatic contrasts which was at the heart of Neo-Impressionists' research. The idyllic depiction of the Seine, flowing in the most historic corner of the capital, inspired some of Signac's most accomplished pictorial symphonies, and remained one of his most cherished motifs until the late 1920s (see fig. 1).
Mme. Franoise Cachin has kindly confirmed the authenticity of this work in a letter dated Paris, le 1er fvrier, 1999.
Signac, on the contrary, was uninspired by the depiction of the people on the bridge - it was the panoramic view of the Seine that interested him. The view of the river, framed by the bank's luxuriant trees and the archetypal silhouette of Notre Dame, allowed the synthetised study of linear tensions and chromatic contrasts which was at the heart of Neo-Impressionists' research. The idyllic depiction of the Seine, flowing in the most historic corner of the capital, inspired some of Signac's most accomplished pictorial symphonies, and remained one of his most cherished motifs until the late 1920s (see fig. 1).
Mme. Franoise Cachin has kindly confirmed the authenticity of this work in a letter dated Paris, le 1er fvrier, 1999.