The Mediterranean at Le Lavandou

Théo van Rysselberghe painted The Mediterranean at Le Lavandou in 1904, returning to a stretch of the Provençal coast he had first visited with Henri-Edmond Cross and other Neo-Impressionist colleagues. Le Lavandou was a favoured retreat for artists seeking the intense light and cobalt waters of the Mediterranean, and Van Rysselberghe used the location to demonstrate the full chromatic potential of his pointillist method. The Israel Museum in Jerusalem now holds this work, where it serves as a prime example of how the Belgian Neo-Impressionists extended Seurat's scientific colour theory into southern European landscape painting.

Van Rysselberghe applies his signature mosaic of small, even colour dots in strict Neo-Impressionist fashion, separating complementary hues to maximize optical vibration. Blues, greens, and whites in the water are countered by warm oranges and yellows in the sky and land.