The Straw Hat

Painted in 1890, the year after Van Rysselberghe fully committed to Neo-Impressionism, this canvas depicting a woman in a straw hat belongs to the early phase of his mature divisionist practice. The straw hat was a standard accessory in late nineteenth-century leisure and outdoor painting — Renoir, Monet, and countless Belgian contemporaries used it to introduce warm golden light into compositions and to signal outdoor, warm-weather settings. For Van Rysselberghe, the hat's brim presented the specific challenge of how to render warm shadow under woven straw against a bright lit background using only separated colour touches. By 1890 he was working closely within the circle of Signac and other French Neo-Impressionists, exhibiting with Les XX and applying Seurat's optical colour theories with increasing confidence. This casual, relaxed image contrasts with the grand compositional ambition of his bathing figure paintings, showing the everyday, intimate side of divisionist practice.

Oil on canvas using early but already confident divisionist dot-work. The straw hat's warm tones are built from ochres and yellows set against cooler blue-greens that provide simultaneous contrast. The shadow beneath the brim is constructed from complementary touches rather than dark paint. The figure's costume provides additional opportunities for colour juxtaposition.