Palazzoli, Paris
Sale: Motte, Geneva, May 23, 1964, lot 73
Acquired at the above sale and thence by descent

Paris, Galerie Druet, Exposition Paul Signac, 1904, no. 30

Cahier manuscrit (the artist's handlist), 1904, (titled 2 Panneaux Venise)
Gaston Lévy & Paul Signac, Pré-catalogue, circa 1929-32, illustrated p. 341
Françoise Cachin, Signac, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Paris, 2000, no. 406, illustrated p. 265

The canvasboard is sound with several labels on the reverse. The surface retains a richly textured, well preserved impasto. The surface is clean with some minor stains and scuffs to the extreme edges. Under UV light: Under UV light: there are scattered pindot retouchings throughout, concentrated in the upper register, at lower center, and at center right. These are minor and overall the work is in very good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Encouraged by John Ruskin’s treatise The Stones of Venice, Signac first traveled to Venice in March 1904, the year the present work was painted. As it had for generations of artists before, Venice proved inspirational for Signac and during his brief stay he produced many works including more than two hundred watercolors. It was not only the architecture of the city which excited Signac but, as noted by Marina Ferretti-Bocquillon, the artist was able to make connections between the great masters and his own artistic mission: “the city of the Doges had everything to offer in his search for new subject matter. He visited an impressive number of churches and museums, always delighted when he found in the masterpieces of the past traces of an instinctive use of the principles of color division and contrast” (Marina Ferretti-Bocquillon in Signac (exhibition catalogue), New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001, pp. 233-34). Venice would remain important to Signac and he returned to the city in 1908, a visit which saw him complete a series of eleven large scale oils.

Alongside Georges Seurat in the 1880s, Signac had developed the rigorously scientific style of Pointillism. After Seurat’s death in 1891, Signac moved away from the rigid execution which defined his earlier works, and his mature period saw tightly spaced dots replaced by larger dabs of paint across the surface of the canvas. As John Leighton notes, by reducing his emphasis on precision in his later period and embracing the expressive nature of paint, Signac “emphasized that the painter was a poet and a creator, not a scientist” (John Leighton, "Out of Seurat’s Shadow: Signac, 1863-1935, An Introduction" in ibid., pp. 9-10).