Indsejlingen til det gamle havnebassin i La Rochelle 1918 - 1921

Paul Signac made this drawing, 'Indsejlingen til det gamle havnebassin i La Rochelle,' using graphite or a similar material on paper. The approach is all about line and hatching; it’s not about a perfect rendering but a way of thinking through the scene. Looking closely, you can see how Signac builds up the forms of the towers and the water with a kind of shorthand. The marks are quick and repetitive, almost like he’s trying to capture the vibration of light on the water's surface. There’s a real sense of the artist’s hand at work. Notice how the hatching is denser in the shadows, giving the forms weight and volume. It’s not trying to hide the process, but rather it reveals how he's constructing the image, bit by bit. Signac, like his friend Seurat, was interested in capturing the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere. This drawing, with its open, airy quality, shows that interest, but the real connection I see is with someone like Cézanne, who also used drawing to investigate the structure of the world. Art's just an ongoing conversation, isn't it?