Signac, Paul (1863-1935)
Mont Saint-Michel, soleil couchant (Mont Saint-Michel, Setting Sun)
1897
Oil on canvas, 66.04 × 81.6 cm
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas
In 1897 Paul Signac made a series of seven paintings of Mont Saint-Michel, a medieval monastery on the Normandy coast in northwestern France. This version depicts the monument at high tide, surrounded by pale blue water and a mauve sunset. Painted six years after the death of his mentor Georges Seurat, this series marked a turning point in Signac’s career as he moved away from the dots of pointillism to a technique of small patches of color that resemble a mosaic of bright tiles. Mont Saint-Michel, Setting Sun shows off Signac’s talent for re-creating the sensation of shimmering light effects. (DMA)