Cathrin À L’ancre, Mouillage De Kermarquer 1925

Paul Signac made "Cathrin À L’ancre, Mouillage De Kermarquer" with watercolor and ink. It's all about process, you can tell he's working quickly, trying to capture a fleeting moment. Look at the land on the left – Signac blocks in areas of pure color, like the oranges, pinks and blues. It's interesting because you can see how the transparent washes of color layer and bleed into one another. Everything feels really immediate. The dark outlines create definition, but they also flatten the image. It’s like he’s building the scene with these simple, intuitive marks. The clouds, for example, are suggested with loose hatching, giving them a sense of movement. Signac really reminds me of someone like Raoul Dufy, who was also interested in capturing light and movement with a kind of joyous, playful abandon. There's a lovely sense of openness, a real invitation to see and think and feel.