St. Briac, the Cross of the Seamen

St. Briac, the Cross of the Seamen (1885) was painted at Saint-Briac-sur-Mer during Signac's critical transitional summer when he was moving decisively from Impressionism to divisionism under Seurat's influence. The votive cross of the seamen — a traditional Breton roadside monument — gave the painting an unusual religious and folkloric subject within the predominantly secular landscape tradition of Neo-Impressionism. Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis.

The stone cross stands as a vertical accent in the flat coastal landscape, rendered in warm grey divisionist dots against the cooler sea and sky. The early divisionist technique is visible in the somewhat tentative, varied stroke-work, transitioning between the looser Impressionist manner and the systematic dotting of the mature style.