Signac, Paul. (1863 - 1935)
Le Pont des Arts
Brush and brown wash and brown ink and pencil on cream wove paper. Executed and signed on New Year's day, 1926 upper left corner "avec nos meilleurs voeux / P. Signac / 1.1.26." Sight size: 4-1/2"h x 5-3/4"w.Signac sketched and painted similar views of the Pont des Arts in Paris numerous times when he was not touring the countryside or travelling from port to port. Water being one of the artist's favorite motifs, the bridge itself seen here must have also played an almost daily role in his life in Paris as it was so close to the apartment he had bought in 1919, seven years earlier, his base in Paris for himself, his partner Jeanne Selmersheim-Desgrange and their daughter Ginette.
The Pont des Arts (which was rebuilt in the 1980s in such a manner as to conserve the appearance and character of the bomb- and collision-damaged original) was a logical theme, a natural choice, for a painter such as Signac, not least as it would have provided him with a direct route to the Louvre-- the Palais des Arts. The bridges of Paris had long interested the artist: in 1911, he had participated in an exhibition, with Aristide Maillol, entitled Les Ponts de Paris. The Pont des Arts itself had featured in his 1912 picture Le Pont des Arts (C493), now in the Museum Folkwang, Essen; and he would return to the theme three years later in 'Pont des Arts. Automne' (C582), now in the Musée du Petit Palais, Paris. Each of these pictures and drawings have been depicted from a slightly different viewpoint, with a different composition. (10520)
Art/Sculpture Art & Design