Paris in the Days of Post-Impressionism:
Signac and the Indépendants
This magnificent exhibition by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) reveals the exuberant artistic innovations and experimentations that took place in France at the turn of the 20th century. It features over 500 works from an outstanding private collection that were generously landed to MMFA by an anonymous collector.
Rare loans
In addition to the over 500 works from the private collection, two rare pieces have been loaned to the Museum from the archives of Paul Signac's descendants. One is the portrait Paul Signac as a Yachtsman (1896) by Theo Van Rysselberghe (1862-1926) - see image just below, and the other is a sketch for In the Time of Harmony (1893) by Paul Signac that will enable the public to learn more about this masterpiece, which cannot be transported owing to its size.
The visitors will discover a striking and significant body of paintings and graphic works by Paul Signac and other avant-garde artists of that era: Impressionists (Degas, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro), Fauves (Dufy, Friesz, Marquet, Vlaminck), Symbolists (Gauguin, Redon), Nabis (Bonnard, Denis, Lacombe, Sérusier, Ranson, Vallotton), observers of life in Paris (Anquetin, Ibels, Steinlen, Toulouse-Lautrec), Cubists (Picasso, Braque), Expressionists (Feininger, Heckel), as well as the Neo-Impressionists (Angrand, Cross, Hayet, Lemmen, Luce, Seurat, Van Rysselberghe).
The exhibition also brings into focus the social and pictorial issues of the era that prompted a group of artists led by Signac to create the Salon des Indépendants in 1884. What was so innovative and special about that Salon? It promoted the ideal of a democratic exhibition with neither jury, nor award. Instead they believed that art should be accessible to all and could contribute to the common good. From its inauguration in 1884 to the First World War, the Salon des Indépendants served as a platform for major and historical art developments of the time, including: Neo-Impressionism, the Nabis movement, Symbolism, Fauvism and Cubism. The exhibition situates the Indépendants in the sociocultural and political context of Paris during the Belle Époque.
Paul Signac and the Salon des Indépendants, 1884-1914
Paris, 1900: a revolution was underway in the Belle Époque.
“Art for all!” declared artists who exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants under the motto “neither jury, nor reward.” Co-founder of the Salon des Indépendants, Paul Signac (1863-1935) made a name for himself as the theoretician of the so-called “postimpressionist scientists.” Inspired by the chromatic theories of Charles Henry, Ogden Rood and Michel-Eugène Chevreul, he applied pure colour to the canvas in tightly placed dots, such that the form would emerge from the optical blending in the viewer’s eye. With his “divisionist” technique, he sought to create total art somewhere between the paradise lost of the golden age and social utopia. Signac championed positivist painting, which promoted technical and political modernity. The new pointillist style of his “Neo” peers spread quickly from Paris to Brussels, glorifying the better days to come. According to the writings of such critics as Fénéon, Signac positioned himself as an engaged intellectual in the era of the Dreyfus affair.
“Justice in sociology, harmony in art: one and the same thing.” These words by Signac sum up the vision he applied to both politics and his quest for social justice and harmony. His nearly 80 works on display also attest to his pursuit of social and chromatic harmony. In addition, the exhibition also reveals other movements born of that turbulent era, including Symbolism, Nabism, Fauvism and Cubism.
Paris in the Days of Post-Impressionism is the first Canadian exhibition of this scale dedicated to Neo-Impressionism. It offers a unique opportunity to view these works together, many of which have never been exhibited before.
Do not miss this exhibition if you live in Montreal or can travel to Montreal during the next few weeks before the exhibition closes on November 15, 2020. The tickets have to be purchased online. Due to Covid-19, the number of people who can attend at the same time is strictly controlled. I found my visit and the spacing between the visitors very comfortable, and the works on display to be a real delight to my eye!
For more information about the Montreal Museum of Fine, visit the museum's website.
The exhibition is complemented by a 384-page catalogue, featuring over 550 illustrations and published in French and English by the MMFA’s Publishing Department in collaboration with Éditions Hazan, Paris. Edited by Gilles Genty and Mary-Dailey Desmarais,it presents research findings and scholarly essays by experts in Post-Impressionism. Contributors to the book include Mark Antliff, Nathalie Bondil, Charlotte Hellmann, Mary-Dailey Desmarais, Claire Denis, Phillip Dennis Cate, Marina Ferretti Bocquillon, Gilles Genty, Hilliard T. Goldfarb, Anne Grace, Jean-David Jumeau-Lafond, Patricia Leighten, Katia Poletti, Véronique Serrano, Nicole Tamburini, Belinda Thomson and Richard Thomson.
P.S.
Unfortunately, due to Covid, MMFA announced a temporary closure of the Museum until October 28, 2020.
