Henri-Edmond CROSS
French 1856–1910
The breaking sea (1902-05)
(La mer clapotante)
oil on canvas
59.0 x 82.0 cm
Private collection
French 1856–1910
The breaking sea (1902-05)
(La mer clapotante)
oil on canvas
59.0 x 82.0 cm
Private collection
In the spring of 1904 Paul Signac stayed for several weeks in Venice. La Serenissima gratified the theoretician in him and he was glad to discover in the painting of Tintoretto an instinctive application of Neo-Impressionist principles. The motifs Signac found in the dazzling spectacle offered by the city's water, light, monuments and coloured sails seduced him. He enthusiastically noted down in his watercolours striking details and effects, in order to make use of them in Saint-Tropez, where, in 1905, he painted his first series of Venetian pictures. This included Rainbow (Venice).