Antibes, Thunderstorm

The thunderstorm at Antibes gave Signac the opportunity to work at the opposite atmospheric extreme from his characteristic clear Mediterranean light — the dramatic optical effects of a Mediterranean squall, with the sky darkening rapidly over the sea and the white of breaking waves contrasting with the dark water. Such atmospheric events were also theoretically significant for divisionism: storm light is not simply the absence of sunlight but a complex optical situation in which reflected light from clouds, atmospheric scattering, and the turbulent sea surface all contribute different color elements to the visual field.

The stormy sky requires Signac to depart from his habitual bright Mediterranean palette toward darker, more complex mixtures of blue-grey, purple-grey, and yellow-grey that capture the peculiar light of an approaching squall. The sea below mirrors the sky's unsettled color, with white foam rendered in pure mixed whites against the darker water.