Saint-Tropez, fontaine des Lices

Saint-Tropez, Fontaine des Lices (1895) depicts the central square of Saint-Tropez dominated by its old stone fountain, a subject that allowed Signac to move from the harbour into the town's domestic interior. The Place des Lices — now famous for its boules players and market — was the social heart of the village Signac had made his home. By 1895 he had spent three full summers there and knew its every aspect. Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.

The stone fountain is rendered in warm ochre divisionist dots contrasted with the cool shadow of surrounding plane trees. The town square's alternating sunshine and shade presents a pattern of warm and cool chromatic zones that Signac renders with systematic precision. The dappled light through the canopy creates a fragmented, vibrant surface.