Samois. Étude n° 11

Samois. Étude n° 11 was painted in 1899 at the height of Neo-Impressionism, a movement that Signac had been a leader of and driving force behind. Signac had since adopted a less restrictive approach to Neo-Impressionism, however, preferring to call this technique Divisionism, a style in which the present work was painted. As a self-taught painter, Signac thrived at being an instinctual artist, resulting in an increasing exuberance in his work, particularly in the wake of the death of his mentor and friend Georges Seurat in 1891.

Unlike Seurat's scientific and rigid approach to painting, Signac's working process was much more fluid and personal. Signac elaborated that "several years ago I, too, tried very hard to prove to others, through scientific experiments, that these blues, these yellows, these greens were to be found in nature. Now I content myself with saying: I paint like that because it is the technique which seems to me the most apt to give the most harmonious, the most luminous and the most colorful result...and because I like it that way" (quoted in M. Ferretti-Bocquillon et al., Signac, exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2001, p. 16).

What strikes in the present work, is not just its luminous palette but also the richly textured application of paint. Each mosaic is applied illustriously and generously across the support, enlivening it with a three-dimensional quality, and setting it apart with the other more fully accomplished works within the series, such as Samois. Étude n° 2, 1899 housed at the Neue Pinakothek, Munich. Like Samois. Étude n° 2, Samois. Étude n° 11 is not just a display of Signac’s experimentation in Divisionism as its title suggests, but presents as a fully finished painting on intimate scale. A testament to the recognition of Samois. Étude n°11 is its inclusion in the June 1902 exhibition at the Maison de l’Art Nouveau in Paris, as part of the Exposition d’œuvres de Paul Signac.