Chromatic Circle

1886

Meeting Van Gogh in Paris

In 1886 Signac meets Vincent van Gogh in Paris, and also Toulouse-Lautrec, a friend of Van Gogh. At first Van Gogh admires above all Signac's free painting technique.

1886

Three months at Les Andelys

In 1886 Signac spends three months at Les Andelys; the visit crystallised his theories around Pointillism.

1887

To Asnières-sur-Seine with Van Gogh

In 1887 Signac and Van Gogh regularly travel together to Asnières-sur-Seine, where they paint river landscapes and cafés.

1888

Discovering anarchist ideas

In 1888 Signac discovers anarchist ideas by reading Élisée Reclus, Kropotkin and Jean Grave; with his friends Charles Angrand, Henri-Edmond Cross, Maximilien Luce and Camille Pissarro he contributes to Grave's paper, Les Temps Nouveaux (New Times). Politically he remains an anarchist, as were many of his friends, among them Félix Fénéon.

March 1889

A visit to Van Gogh in Arles

In March 1889 Signac visits Van Gogh at Arles; he had met him in Paris in 1886 and had travelled with him to Asnières in 1887.

1890

The XX banquet in Brussels: the duel that never was

At the banquet of the XX exhibition in Brussels in 1890, Toulouse-Lautrec challenges to a duel the artist Henri de Groux, who had criticized Van Gogh's work; Signac declares that he will carry on fighting for Van Gogh's honor if Lautrec is killed. De Groux apologizes and leaves, and the duel never takes place.