The Andelys 1895

Paul Signac created "The Andelys" using lithography, a printmaking technique, sometime between 1890 and 1910. Signac was a key figure in the Neo-Impressionist movement, a style known for its systematic use of tiny dots of pure color. Here, we see a tranquil riverside scene, likely in the French countryside, where women are doing laundry. The scene reflects the era’s vision of rural life as idyllic, while also hinting at the labor often unseen in such portrayals. The women, rendered with the same pointillist technique as the landscape, become part of the overall harmony, yet their presence also speaks to the gendered division of labor that was so typical at the time. Signac's work invites us to consider the complexities within seemingly simple scenes, prompting questions about labor, leisure, and the artist’s own position in relation to his subject. In this way "The Andelys" blurs the boundaries between objective representation and subjective experience, between the picturesque and the real.