Paul SIGNAC
French 1863–1935
Port of Saint-Tropez (1897-98)
(Port de Saint-Tropez)
colour lithograph
43.5 x 33.0 cm (image), 52.0 x 39.9 cm (sheet)
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Purchased, 1980 (80.2827)
French 1863–1935
Port of Saint-Tropez (1897-98)
(Port de Saint-Tropez)
colour lithograph
43.5 x 33.0 cm (image), 52.0 x 39.9 cm (sheet)
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Purchased, 1980 (80.2827)
The glowing sunlit hues of this colour lithograph embody the idyll of both place and idea, with nature and the town in serene harmony, bathed in the light of reason. The benign climate and bright colouring of the Mediterranean clearly affected Signac who, like Cross, exulted in the luminosity and heightened colour palette to be found in the south of France. Both features are vividly evident in his paintings, watercolours and lithographs from this period, which frequently marry marine labour and reverie.