Montmartre, Rue Caulaincourt, Mills

This 1884 canvas of Rue Caulaincourt in Montmartre, showing the windmills still standing on the butte, predates Signac's systematic Neo-Impressionism and shows him working in a more directly Impressionist mode. Montmartre in 1884 still retained its semi-rural character — the windmills that had given the hill its historic character were slowly disappearing as urbanization claimed the hilltop. Signac lived in Montmartre in these years alongside Van Gogh and other young painters, and this documentary view of the neighborhood before full urban transformation captures a moment of Parisian topographic history.

The pre-Neo-Impressionist date shows in the more loosely handled, Impressionist-influenced brushwork — varied, responsive marks rather than the systematic dot technique of his later canvases. The windmills are given strong silhouette against the Paris sky. The palette is relatively naturalistic, responding to the cool Paris light.