The Town Beach, Collioure 1887

Paul Signac painted *The Town Beach, Collioure* using oil on canvas to capture a landscape in France. Signac was a key figure in the Pointillist movement, a style born out of a desire to bring scientific rigor to painting. The systematic application of color was, in part, an effort to democratize art making, yet there's a tension here, isn't there? In the late 19th century, France was grappling with its colonial identity, even as artists like Signac were seeking new ways of seeing and representing the world around them. What does it mean to claim a scientific approach to something as subjective as landscape? How might the act of observing and documenting a place like Collioure be inflected with the politics of seeing and ownership? The painting is also evocative. The shimmering light and the tranquil scene invite a moment of pause. Perhaps Signac’s painting invites us to reflect on our own relationship to place and the act of witnessing.