A picture is worth a thousand words, so the saying goes. The tricky part is figuring out exactly what those words are. With all the Monets and Van Goes long deceased, it is the labor of modern day artistic scholars to speculate the brainwork behind the brushstrokes. The late French Neo-Impressionist painter Paul Signac’s (November 11, 1863 – August 15, 1935) works are of this interpretive variety. Friends with a few famous anarchists of his day, it has been speculated that such sentiments can be seen in his paintings. It is believed by some that the stark contrast between his two favorite subjects—seemingly upper-class people in seemingly upper-class households and peaceful scenes of green, undisturbed nature—represent the two steps in his plan: first, revolt against the corrupt and incompetent ruling class in France, and two, begin fresh in the paradisiacal retreat of the Mediterranean coast.
In Robyn Roslak’s article entitled “Artisans, Consumers and Corporeality in Signac’s Parisian Interiors,” he suggests that Signac’s paintings criticize the callous, materialistic lifestyle of the ruling Bourgeois class in France. Roslak points out that Signac’s paintings Dining Room and A Parisian Study both feature “the affluent Parisians who bought and fetishized consumer products of every sort, artisanal and mass-produced alike.” In an attempt to provide objective evidence for his claim, Roslak also discusses the angularity of the subjects’ bodies and the paleness of their skin, considering the idea that these may indicate an intentionally stiff or unyielding persona symptomatic of Signac’s disgust for the idle rich and their insatiable pursuit of luxury. Perhaps this promotion associating greed and laziness with the ruling class is an effort to instill bitterness towards those in power.
On the opposite end of Signac’s artistic spectrum, Anne Dymond, in her article entitled “A Politicized Pastoral: Signac and the Cultural Geography of Mediterranean France,” argues that Paul Signac’s idealistic landscapes symbolize his idea of an anarchist future situated on France's Mediterranean shore. “Signac reconfigured the classical pastoral,” she writes, “using its inherent capacity for juxtaposition to claim the Mediterranean coast as a site for politically critical avant-garde art.” Dymond claims that Signac’s colors are richer, the brushstrokes more playful, and the mood more gentle in his landscapes than in his paintings involving people. She also notes that Signac keeps the two (landscapes scenes and household scenes) almost completely separate, with no humans in his landscapes, and no natural beauty in his households. Perhaps this is a clue to Signac’s intentions, or at least his wishes.
Despite the fact that the two articles focus on two very different aspects of Signac’s work, they both support the belief that the two aspects reflect two sides of the same coin: a hatred for the Bourgeois, and longing to escape and start anew. When considered together, the grim and unbecoming portrayal of ruling class provides an indisputable contrast with the colorful and exuberant praise of the untainted natural world. Whether or not this contrast is meant to represent a plan to overthrow those in power and lead the suppressed to a lush utopia, however, is a matter of speculation.
While these complementary interpretations are relatively supported by what we know about whom Signac’s chose associate with, there is little concrete or textural support for these claims. If making claims is the game, then these claims are as good as any, but I still think these interpretations may be over-dramatizing a man’s simple political sentiments into an all out call for revolution.
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