Fiskerbåde i havnen i Locmalo 1922 - 1923

Editor: This is "Fiskerbåde i havnen i Locmalo", a watercolor and drawing made between 1922 and 1923 by Paul Signac, housed right here at the SMK. I'm immediately struck by its airy, almost dreamlike quality. The colours are so delicate! What do you see when you look at this work? Curator: It makes me think of a fleeting memory, doesn’t it? Signac, towards the later part of his career, moves further away from pure pointillism, embracing a looser, more fluid approach. He's capturing not just the boats, but the *feeling* of being in Locmalo harbor, that shimmering, almost hazy atmosphere that only watercolour can truly conjure. Don’t you get a sense of that ephemeral light? Editor: I do! It's almost like the boats are mirages. It feels less like a depiction of a real place and more like...a feeling about a place. Curator: Precisely! And see how he uses these rapid strokes to define the shape and create the effect of water reflecting the light; so the color almost dissolves into it all! Tell me, does the composition itself speak to you at all? Editor: Definitely. It is very soothing, with gentle blues. Curator: It invites you to breathe deeply, to soak in the moment. His art became less about scientific precision and more about capturing the emotional resonance of a scene, and with considerable elegance! Editor: I didn't realize Signac moved away from pointillism so much later in his life. It really does show a whole different side to him! Curator: Indeed! There's an interesting creative energy with which Signac expresses what he’s seeing; the water breathes, and the boats sit as though suspended upon air. This piece whispers rather than shouts; but sometimes it’s in those quieter moments where real beauty resides.