Le port de Rotterdam

Rotterdam's industrial port presented Signac with a subject quite different from the Mediterranean and Atlantic harbours he more typically painted. This 1907 canvas in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen records the city's busy commercial waterfront with its mix of sailing vessels and steam-powered craft. His northern European harbour subjects required adaptation of his southern divisionist colour system: Rotterdam's cooler, greyer light demanded a different palette while the underlying method remained consistent.

Signac adjusts his palette toward cooler blues and greys to accommodate the northern European atmosphere while retaining systematic divisionist application. The boats are massed in the middle ground, their varied hull colours providing warmth within the cooler colour scheme.