La Rochelle, Leaving the harbourg

La Rochelle, the Protestant stronghold and historic Atlantic port on France's western coast, became an important subject for Signac in his watercolor and oil campaigns along the French Atlantic. His La Rochelle harbor views capture the distinctive maritime character of the town: the medieval towers flanking the old harbor entrance, the mix of working and pleasure boats, and the northern Atlantic light quite different from his Mediterranean subjects. The departure scene — vessels leaving the harbor — was among the most dynamic maritime subjects, capturing that transitional moment when boat and crew move from shelter into open water.

The harbor towers frame the composition, their medieval stone rendered in warm ochres and greys against the cooler sky and water. Departing vessels are painted with sufficient specificity of rigging and hull to identify their type, while their reflections in the harbor water give Signac the optical mixture problem he found most technically rewarding.