Signac, an avid yachtsman, is best known for his vivid views of French ports and incandescent seascapes. This painting of 1925 depicts one of the two lighthouses marking the harbor of Port-Tudy on the Île-de-Groix, a small island off the coast of Brittany in northern France. A guidebook of the time remarked on the town’s "multicolored tuna boats, with long yardarms like antennae, used for fishing." The broad, regular touches of color, visible especially in the sky and water, were a hallmark of Signac’s late style.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Lighthouse at Groix
Artist:Paul Signac (French, Paris 1863–1935 Paris)
Date:1925
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:29 1/8 x 36 3/8 in. (74 x 92.4 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Dillon, 1998
Object Number:1998.412.3
Inscription: Signed and dated (lower left): P Signac / 1925
[Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, bought from the artist, May 26, 1925, for Fr 4500; stock no. 24.322, as "La Rochelle," negative no. 5428; sold December 5, to Gleizes]; Gleizes, Paris (from 1925); Georges Lévy (by February 1926–at least May 30, 1930); sale, Palais Galliéra, Paris, April 3, 1962, no. 48, as "Bateaux pavoisés au phare de Groix," bought in at Fr 130,000; sold through the sale's commissaire-priseur, Étienne Libert, on April 17, 1962, for $27,350 to Hahn; [Stephen Hahn, New York, 1962; sold May 17, for $38,500, to Findlay]; [Wally Findlay Galleries, Palm Beach, Florida, 1962–63; sold May 18, to Dillon]; Douglas Dillon, New York (from 1963)
Paris. Bernheim-Jeune. "Exposition Paul Signac," May 19–30, 1930, no. 41 (as "Le phare. Groix," lent by Georges Lévy).
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux. "La peinture française: Collections américaines," May 13–September 15, 1966, no. 119 (lent by Douglas Dillon, New York).
Amsterdam. Van Gogh Museum. "Signac, 1863–1935," June 15–September 9, 2001, no. 152.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Signac, 1863–1935," October 9–December 30, 2001, no. 152.
Exposition Paul Signac. Exh. cat., Bernheim-Jeune. Paris, 1930, p. 5, no. 41, ill., dates it 1925.
Marina Ferretti-Bocquillon inPaul Signac: A Collection of Watercolors and Drawings. Exh. cat., Little Rock, Arkansas Art Center. New York, 2000, pp. 23–24, ill. (color), remarks on changes the artist made in the composition, following preparation of a large-scale india ink wash study (Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection, Little Rock).
Françoise Cachin. Signac, catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint. Paris, 2000, p. 324, no. 568, ill.
This picture shows the harbor of Port-Tudy on the Île-de-Groix, a small island off the coast of southern Brittany opposite Lorient.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
