Saint Paul de Vence 1921

Paul Signac made this watercolour painting of Saint Paul de Vence sometime in his lifetime. Look at his approach, it’s all about building up these small marks, dabs, and dashes, and how, together, they create a sense of light, air and the whole scene coming to life. You can almost feel the breeze rustling through the leaves. Up close, you see these translucent layers of colour, one over the other. Signac isn’t trying to hide the process, he’s revelling in the way that watercolour allows you to build up colour and form in a really fluid, almost accidental way. Take a look at the trees on the left, see the way he's used these little dots of yellow, blue, and green? Each one is distinct, but they blend together in your eye to create this shimmering effect. It’s as if he's not just painting the trees but also the light that's dancing on them. Signac knew Seurat, and you can see him playing with similar ideas, but in a much looser, more playful way. They're having a conversation across time about how we see, and how we can capture a moment.