Le Pont Neuf

11 novembre 1863

Born

1884

Meeting Georges Seurat

In 1884 Signac meets Georges Seurat: he is struck by Seurat's systematic working methods and his theory of colors, and becomes his faithful supporter, friend and heir. Under Seurat's influence Signac abandons the short brushstrokes of Impressionism for scientifically juxtaposed small dots of pure color, meant to combine and blend not on the canvas but in the viewer's eye.

29 July 1884

Founding the Société des Artistes Indépendants

On July 29, 1884 the Société des Artistes Indépendants begins in Paris — among its founders are Signac, Albert Dubois-Pillet, Odilon Redon and Georges Seurat — with the motto “Neither jury nor awards.” Its annual exhibitions flourish for the next three decades and set the trends in the art of the early twentieth century, and Signac remains a guiding force in the Society.

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.

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.

1898–1899

“From Eugène Delacroix to Neo-Impressionism” appears

In 1898–1899 Signac's programmatic work “From Eugène Delacroix to Neo-Impressionism” appears, a set of rules for the artists of the new movement: any optical mixture, he argues, leads to clarity and brilliance, any material mixture to darkening and discoloration. Henri Matisse, after reading the essay, adopts the Divisionist technique in 1898.