Figure Constructing a Trellis; verso: blank page

1890s

Meets Fénéon, Gide and Verhaeren

In the 1890s he works alongside Signac and gets to know the writers and critics Félix Fénéon, André Gide and Emile Verhaeren.

c. 1895

Moves from Pointillism to a mosaic-like brushstroke

From about 1895 he gradually changes his technique: instead of tiny dots, broad blocky brushstrokes with small areas of bare canvas left between them. The surfaces resemble mosaics, and such paintings are seen as precursors of Fauvism and Cubism.

1895

Shows at La Libre Esthétique at Maus’s invitation

Octave Maus, who had earlier invited him to the annual exhibitions of Les XX, invites him to the Libre Esthétique show; Cross takes part again in 1897, 1901, 1904, 1908 and 1909.

1896

Lithograph “The Wanderer” for an anarchist journal

The lithograph “L’Errant” (“The Wanderer”), his first work with a publisher, appeared anonymously in Jean Grave’s anarchist journal Les Temps Nouveaux. Like Signac and Pissarro, Cross held anarchist principles, and they shaped his choice of subjects — scenes of a utopian world.

1898

The first Neo-Impressionist exhibition in Germany

In 1898, together with Signac, Maximilien Luce and Théo van Rysselberghe, he takes part in the first Neo-Impressionist exhibition in Germany, organized by Harry Kessler at the Keller und Reiner Gallery.