HONFLEUR SOUVENIRS ET REVERIES - ENTRANCE TO HONFLEUR'S PORT

 

Georges Pierre SEURAT

1859-1891

 

 Pupil of the Beaux-Arts of Paris in Henri Lehmann's studio.

 

" Dead when thirty two years old, he had nevertheless time enough to paint one of the most important work of the end of the XIX-th century and to be unquestionably recognized as the leader of the neo-impressionism although its doctrine was formulated only after his death, by Signac, in « from Delacroix to the Neo-impressionism » appeared in 1899 ". Jacques Busse.

He exhibits at the Independents Show and at the 8th and last exhibition of the Show of the Impressionists in 1886

     "... Directly and almost unconsciously, the Neo-impressionists find the shape and the construction from the Impressionist immateriality... " Jacques Busse E.Bénézit / Gründ

Seurat painted in Honfleur in 1886-1887, period characterized by the divided touch (the Impressionist style) and the pointillism; the " Maria " steam boat crossing Folkestone - Honfleur (National Gallery in Prague) - " Honfleur's lighthouse " - and some " Entrée du Port " - " Corner of a Pond to Honfleur " - " at the end of the Pier " (Rijksmuseum Musée Kröller-Müller to Otterlo Netherlands).

" The marine painted by Seurat in Honfleur have a peculiarity: almost always an object in the foreground, apparently arbitrary, even artless by its place in the composition, gives a counterpoint at the same moment : realistic and strange for an almost dreamlike scene .../. these signals by their strong and isolated presence highlight the impression of melancholy, transparency and unreality, elements of the singular charm of the seascapes of Seurat.

The writers and the poets of this time were particularly sensitive to Seurat's maritime landscapes. J.K. Huysmans, Paul Adam or Emile Verhaeren (1862-1920) told about him with admiration. "

Félix Fénéon (1861-1944), militant defender of the neo-impressionism, by reporting the landscapes of Honfleur exposed in 1887, will evoke " a style of a dimension, a serenity and a distinction unspeakable ". He sets, in his comment, the seascapes of Seurat and Signac against those of the impressionists which are interested in the fleeting moment, hence " an inclination to make nature grimace to prove that the minute was unique .../. to synthesise the landscape in a definitive aspect which immortalizes the sensation of it, this is the neo-impressionism. "

 

In 1887 Seurat offered the painting " Entrance to Honfleur's port " Félix Fénéon It is presently in Merion. Pennsylvania. U.S.A. in the Fondation Barnes. Images: Entrée du port de Honfleur / Entrance to Honfleur's port. Evening, Honfleur, 1886. The light-house,1886 & Joconde database

 

According to Françoise Cachin Directeur of the museum of Orsay: " catalog of Cézanne to Matisse " masterpieces of the foundation Barnes Musée of Orsay. Paris 93. > " Entrance to Honfleur's port " oil on canvas, 54 x 65 cm 1886

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Adam (1862-1920) " remarkable French suggestive novelist 1862-1920, he brought in light the collective psychology of the time in historical novels (the Child of Austerlitz, in 1902) and social (the Trust, in 1910), and wrote science fiction novels (Future city, in 1908). " Yahoo Encyclopédie.

According to Signac, in «From Eugène Delacroix to the Neo-impressionism » :

" The Neo-impressionist doesn’t stipple, but divides.

Now to divide is:

Make sure all the profits of luminosity, colour and harmony by:

1 ° The optical mixture of only pure pigments (all the colours of the prism and all the tones)

2 ° The separation of the different elements (local colours , colour of lighting, their reactions, etc.)

3 ° The balance of these elements and their proportion (according to the laws of contrast, gradation and radiation)

4 ° The choice of a touch proportionally to the dimension of the picture. "

Paul Signac (1863-1935) Painter, engraver and writer. The role was considerable in the forming of the neo-Impressionist group and his action determining in favour of the following generations, Fauvists, Cubists, as president, from 1909 till 1934 of the Society of the independents.

The neo-impressionism is the application in the painting of the division of colours (divisionism), resulting from scientific theories (law of the simultaneous contrast) of Chevreul. (1786-1889)

The neo-Impressionist group, which exposes to the show of the Independents, includes : Seurat, Signac, Camille Pissaro and Lucien Pissarro, Dubois-Pillet, Luce, H. E. Cross (Henri-Edmond Delacroix, alias), Charles Angrand ...