Paris, La Seine Au Pont Des Arts 1932

Paul Signac made this watercolor of the Seine in Paris with a light touch, like a memory half-recalled. Look at how he lays down these washes of blue, pink, and tan. I imagine him standing on the bank, squinting at the light, trying to capture the city's essence with quick, deft strokes. He’s not trying to be precise, more interested in the feeling of the place, the way the light shimmers on the water, the way the buildings seem to float in the haze. See how the crane looms over the riverbank? There's something almost fragile about the scene. The buildings are suggested with a few strokes of the brush. It makes me think about other painters, like Turner, who used watercolor to capture the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere. Signac's showing us that painting is an ongoing conversation. We try to communicate something about what it feels like to be in the world, in paint.