This spectacular landscape, with a view of Saint-Tropez distantly visible beyond the trees and sea, was painted at the crescendo of Signac's t.mes as the leader of the Neo-Impressionist painters in 1899-1900. In April of 1892, Signac set sail on his boat Olympia from Concarneau to the south of France, in search of restorative sunlight following the death of his friend Georges Seurat in 1891 (see fig. 1). When he arrived at the port of Saint-Tropez, which at the t.mes could only be accessed by boat, the visual splendor of the terracotta-roofed houses lining the port made a lasting impression on him. Saint-Tropez continued to be a source of fascination for the artist over the subsequent decades, during which t.mes he produced several variants on the scene of the port, and depicted landscapes of its neighboring towns (see fig. 2).
The present composition captures the beauty and splendor of the “Pin de Bertaud” or “Pin Bertaud,” a famous evergreen tree located near the castle Bertaud in Gassin, a small French village perched 200 meters above sea level that overlooks the gulf of Saint-Tropez. The Bertaud Pine was a well-known tourist attraction in the nineteenth century and appeared in guidebooks as early as the 1830s (see fig. 3). It was later reproduced in engravings, drawings and photographs as well as four paintings by Paul Signac of this an a related pine tree (Cachin nos. 240, 241, the present work 354 & 478; see index below). The tree’s popularity was likely due to its prime positioning in the middle of the road that led to Saint-Tropez and was not only a local curiosity and a delight to tourists, but also considered remarkable to horticultural specialists. Charles Joly, the vice president of the Société d’horticulture de France, gave a detailed description of the Pin de Bertaud stating: "The height of this pine is 16 meters and its circumference is 6 meters. The trunk to this day is perfectly healthy and without apparent hollow. The head is complete on all sides, although a strong branch must have been mutilated a few years ago because it interfered with the circulation of cars. The diameter of the head is 26 meters, which gives this enormous parasol a perimeter of 78 meters" (Official Journal, National Horticultural Society, Paris, September 28, 1988).
Le Pin de Bertaud exemplifies Signac’s innovative Neo-Impressionist technique characterized by a systematic application of dots of colors, known as Pointillism. Spearheading this innovative technique in the late 1880s and the early 1890s, Signac was well-regarded as the leading spokesperson for this innovative style of painting, a movement which had officially begun at the closing of the eighth and final Impressionist group exhibition in Paris in 1886. It was at this exhibition that “works appeared for the first t.mes that were painted solely with pure, separated and balanced colors, mixing optically according to a rational method” (P. Signac, “Eugène Delacroix au néo-Impressionisme,” 1899, reprinted in C. Harrison & P. Wood, Art Theory, 1900-1990, Oxford & Cambridge, 1992, p. 21). At the t.mes , though, this rational method of painting was highly radical in its juxtaposition of opposing colors and its exceedingly detailed approach to rendering a large scene in dot formation. The present work, created when Signac’s technique was at its peak, epitomizes his bold stylistic innovation. The artist's approach here was rooted in a careful study of geometry, with particular focus on the horizontality of the great pine and the presence of Saint-Tropez in the background.
The term "Neo-Impressionism" was coined at the 1886 Impressionist group exhibition by the critic Félix Fénéon when referring to the paintings of Signac, Georges Seurat, and Camille and Lucien Pissarro. As the inheritors of the Impressionist tradition, these artists continued to depict the visual splendor of the modern world. Their approach to this artistic goal, however, was decidedly more scientific, relying upon harmonious resonance of color and a precise, divisionist application of paint. Robert Herbert provided the following explanation of this radically new approach: “Suddenly, the new Impressionists proclaimed that intense shimmering light need not spring from this hedonism of the retina. On the contrary, they insisted, the vibration of colored light must come from the patient and systematic application of nature’s immutable laws. With Seurat’s monumental Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grande Jatte as standard bearer, these artists exhibited works in bright colors laid down in tiny and systematic dabs of paint (see fig. 4). Their paintings breathed a spirit of clear, order, firm decision, scientific logic, and a startling definiteness of structure that constituted an open challenge to the instinctive art of the Impressionists of the previous decade. The most conspicuous act of defiance was their mechanical brushwork, which deliberately suppressed the personality of the artist and so flouted the individualism dear to the Impressionists” (R. Herbert, Neo-Impressionism, Princeton, 1968, p. 15).
Le Pin de Bertaud belongs to a series of five canvases Signac painted featuring the renowned tree and related landscapes in Saint-Tropez. The present work is one of only two related works remaining in private hands. The other three versions belong to the collects ions of The Museum of Replica Handbags s, Houston, The Hermitage in St. Petersburg and the Pushkin Museum in Moscow respectively. The present work is distinguished by its important early provenance. The second owner of the present work was Dr. Eberhard Freiherr von Bodenhausen-Degener (1868-1918), the renowned German art historian, collects or and founder of the German literature magazine Pan who amassed an unparalleled collects ion of Pointillist masterpieces which included several works by Paul Signac.
