Port-en-Bessin

Port-en-Bessin (1883) is an early work by Signac at the same Normandy fishing village where Seurat would later paint his celebrated 1888 harbour series. By 1883 Signac was in his early career, influenced by Monet and the Impressionists but not yet converted to systematic divisionism. Working at Port-en-Bessin before Seurat's major campaigns there allows a comparison of the two artists' responses to the same location. Museum Barberini.

Painted in the pre-divisionist manner, the Normandy harbour is handled with Impressionist-influenced brushwork — varied, expressive strokes capturing movement and atmospheric freshness without the systematic dot-work of later Neo-Impressionist work. The palette is relatively naturalistic and muted compared to Signac's mature Mediterranean paintings.