Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde (La Bonne-Mère), Marseilles

Painted in 1905 and now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this view of the famous Marseille basilica represents Signac's mature engagement with the monumental architecture of the French Mediterranean coast. Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, perched on the highest natural point above Marseille and visible throughout the city and its approaches, was a quintessential emblem of the south. Signac had by this date been resident in Saint-Tropez for over a decade and was thoroughly immersed in Mediterranean light. The painting belongs to a period of sustained productivity and growing international recognition for the Neo-Impressionist movement.

The brilliant white and gold basilica is rendered in warm strokes that vibrate against a deep blue sky, with the surrounding cityscape and harbour built from varied mosaic tiles of earth tones, sienna, and grey-blue. The hilltop silhouette and theatrical composition reflect the monument's symbolic dominance of the Marseille skyline.