The “Ponton de la Félicité” at Asnières (Opus no. 143)
Currently on view
Paul Signac (1863 - 1935), Asnières, 1886
oil on canvas, 33.4 cm x 46.7 cm
Credits: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (purchased with support from the VriendenLoterij, the Rembrandt Association, with the additional support from its Themafonds Impressionisme/ Claude Monet Fonds, Het Liesbeth van Dorp Fonds and Themafonds 19de-eeuwse Schilderkunst, the Mondriaan Fund, and the members of the Yellow House Circle)
Signac painted this view of the jetty of La Félicité, a well-known steamer used for pleasure trips on the Seine, dot by separate dot. He was a past master at this way of painting with unmixed, contrasting colours. Van Gogh admired his skill and tried to emulate it. Signac’s modern subjects also appealed to him. Van Gogh may well have seen this painting in 1887 at the Salon des Indépendants (a major exhibition held in Paris each year).
Asnières was situated on the river Seine just outside Paris. Well-to-do Parisians went there on day-trips but it was also an industrial development area. The river-side gas holder on the right of the picture is a reference to this.
- Object number
- s0540S2016
- Dimensions
- 33.4 cm x 46.7 cm, 41.5 cm x 54.5 cm, 5 cm
- Catalogue raisonné
- Cachin 2000 nr. 129
- artist
- Paul Signac
- Credits
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (purchased with support from the VriendenLoterij, the Rembrandt Association, with the additional support from its Themafonds Impressionisme/ Claude Monet Fonds, Het Liesbeth van Dorp Fonds and Themafonds 19de-eeuwse Schilderkunst, the Mondriaan Fund, and the members of the Yellow House Circle)
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh aan de Seine, 13 October 2023-14 January 2024
Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Van Gogh and the Avant-Garde. The Modern Landscape, 14 May-4 September 2023
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, In gesprek, 5 July-27 September 2022
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Ongekend. Verhalen rond 10 jaar aanwinsten, 5 February-12 September 2021
Maastricht, Bonnefantenmuseum, Tien topstukken on tour: Voor Nederland verworven dankzij de BankGiro Loterij, 3-25 March 2018
Otterlo, Kröller-Müller Museum, Tien topstukken on tour: Voor Nederland verworven dankzij de BankGiro Loterij, 3-25 February 2018
Eindhoven, Van Abbemuseum, Tien topstukken on tour: Voor Nederland verworven dankzij de BankGiro Loterij, 6-28 January 2018
Enschede, Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Tien topstukken on tour: Voor Nederland verworven dankzij de BankGiro Loterij, 2-31 December 2017
Fries Museum, Tien topstukken on tour: Voor Nederland verworven dankzij de BankGiro Loterij, 4-26 November 2017
The Hague, Mauritshuis, Tien topstukken on tour: Voor Nederland verworven dankzij de BankGiro Loterij, 4-29 October 2017
Paris, Pavillon de la Ville de Paris, 3e Exposition de la Société des artistes indépendants, 26 March-3 May 1887
Quaghebeur, Marc, Émile Verhaeren, un musée imaginaire, 1997, p. 141, 162, 171, 190