Le pont des Arts 1928

Paul Signac made this painting of the Pont des Arts in Paris with oil paint, and what looks like a whole lot of little dabs. You can almost feel Signac methodically applying each tiny stroke. He’s not trying to hide the process, you know? He’s embracing it, letting the physical act of painting be part of the picture. The colours, they’re not blended in the traditional way. Instead, he places individual dots of colour side by side and dares you to let your eyes do the mixing. It’s a brave move, and it makes the surface of the painting feel alive. Look closely at the reflections in the water. Notice how he uses similar colours to the sky and bridge above, but with slightly different values and intensities? It’s like he's saying that nothing is ever really fixed, or solid, but always in flux, always reflecting something else. Think of Seurat, think of the way we make images now on a screen.