Georges Lemmen was the only major Neo-Impressionist who resisted the call to the south of France – indeed, he never left Belgium. His little panel paintings of the beach at Heyst (now Heist-an-Zee) are part of a series of works devoted to this summer resort in West Flanders and owe much to Seurat's Normandy seascapes. Their unstructured touches of colour produce a delightful spontaneity and warmth. Using the Divisionist separation of colour, Lemmen allows the warm colour of the wooden panels to serve as a ground, pitching painterly freedom against anecdotal detail and the abstract restraint of his composition.