R endered in atmospheric shades of viridian, lavender and indigo, Les Inondations. Paris captures an iconic view of Paris from the Seine and exemplifies Signac’s mastery of color and Neo-Impressionist technique.

After the first world war, Signac moved inland from Antibes to Saint-Paul de Vence and began traversing the roads of France. While his paintings and watercolors continued to feature the various waterways of his home country, he took to painting along the quais of Paris, depicting various views of the bridges, islands and edifices along the Seine.

Following in the long tradition of master painters like Delacroix and Turner, Signac employed the use of watercolor and ink washes while traveling, making sketches of fleeting scenes as a basis for later compositions in oil. Inspired by the circa 1920 sketch named for the bridge on which it was painted (see fig. 1), Les Inondations. Paris captures the rising river looking westward toward the Pont des Arts. As an avid sailor, Signac took great pleasure in the depiction of watercraft (see fig. 2), a passion translated in Les Inondations. Paris by his attentive renderings of various boats and working vessels. At left is the tip of the Île de la Cité, its banks submerged by the Seine’s frequent flooding (see fig. 3).

The recurrent floods along the river were also a fascination of the Impressionists, including Monet and Sisley who, like Signac, used the phenomenon as a backdrop for artistic exploration during the varying light and weather conditions. In the distance of the present work, the Pont des Arts traverses the river (see fig. 4), and just beyond, the top of the Louvre’s Pavillon de Flore rises in line with the rightmost pier of the bridge. Built from 1802-04, the original Pont des Arts was commissioned by Napoléon Bonaparte and its creation marked one of the first cast-iron bridges ever constructed. Lined with benches, the footbridge soon became a popular destination for Parisians who, for one sous, could enjoy a leisurely stroll along the promenade.

Capturing some of the city’s most recognizable landmarks in one resplendent composition, Signac presents the t.mes less subject matter in a uniquely modern way, utilizing the pioneering studies of color harmony from the nineteenth century to cement his legacy as one of the foremost Neo-Impressionists. Born out of the pointillist techniques which he pioneered alongside Seurat in the 1880s (see fig. 5), Signac’s later divisionist brushwork not only increased the vibrancy of abutting hues but added direction within his lively water scenes and landscapes.

Museum Director John Lee Clarke Jr. discussed the innovative spirit of the present work and the burgeoning movements featured alongside it in the Springfield Museum of Replica Handbags s’ 1935 French Painting: From Cézanne to the Present exhibition, stating:

Amid an impressive oeuvre including more than 600 oil paintings, only about two dozen of Signac’s works feature such iconic views of the Seine. Of these urban water views, Les Inondations. Paris is the only work painted in 1924 and one of only four related depictions of the Pont des Arts in private hands. Among the Parisian scenes held in museum collects ions (see figs. 6-8), Signac’s 1928 Pont des Arts. Automne at the Musée Carnavalet and his earlier Le Pont des Arts from 1912, now at the Museum Folkwang, also portray the famed structure seen in the present work, though from the opposite side of the bridge facing eastward toward the Île de la Cité.

With its bold brushwork and discerning palette, Les Inondations. Paris exemplifies the revolutionary study of light and color pioneered by the Neo-Impressionists and presents one of the genre’s great scenes of Paris. Held in the same family collects ion for decades, this exquisite canvas comes to the market for the first t.mes in nearly 40 years.