A photo-certificate from Franoise Cachin dated Paris, 19 December 1989 accompanies this painting, which will be included in her forthcoming Signac catalogue raisonn.
Due to his fascination with harbors and sailing vessels, Signac traveled to over 200 ports from 1920-1930, executing numerous watercolors and in comparison very few oils. His fellow artist and friend Caillebotte encouraged him to compete in regattas. Signac became a relentless sailor, owning a total of thirty-two boats, including the five-ton cutter Olympia named after Manet's masterpiece of the same name.
The bold color and expressive brushstrokes which enliven the surface of the Les thoniers, soleil couchant, groix are typical of the artist's mature style. "Signac adopted a larger brushstroke, and began to work in mosaic-like blocks of paint, placed separately on the white-primed canvas, and sometimes at an angle to suggest directional movement. The priming is often left visible around the touches, and gives the painting a luminosity, alongside the richness of its colour" (J. House, Post-Impressionism, exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts, 1979, London, p. 140).