Coal Crane, Clichy

This sunny painting of a boat yard was painted at a time when Signac's style was shifting, as he was moving away from Impressionism and towards Neo-Impressionism. The tree-lined, riverside setting, cloudy sky and boats reflecting gently on the water's surface were all motifs used by the Impressionists. His quick brushstrokes in the sky, and the way he uses some colours we wouldn't normally expect- for example the strokes of purple and blue used to articulate the wood of the boats- are also typical of Impressionism. However, shortly before painting this work Signac met Georges Seurat, whose distinctive way of painting provided a strong influence. Seurat is known for his Pointillist pictures- artworks constructed using many different dabs or dots of colour. Seurat's influence can be detected in 'Boatyard at Saint-Mammes': In the brown path on the foreground, Signac's short, stubby dashes of paint form a tapestry-like pattern reminiscent of Pointillism. This new 'divisionist' approach, which involved optical theories designed to create the appearance of more light on the canvas, was termed Neo-Impressionism. Signac was a key Neo-Impressionist, and president of the Société des Artistes Indépendants. This role gave him influence to support young, controversial artists such as Henri Matisse.

Signac was an avid sailor, and regularly painted rivers and coastlines. Here, he has found inspiration in the Northwest Parisian suburb of Clichy. The area's industrial factories and boats provided the main motifs for this bright painting, with tiny figures barely discernible on the wooden platform above.

Credit: Presented by the Trustees of the Hamilton Bequest, 1946