Amsterdam In Tour

Van Gogh was known to have painted along the Seine with another prominent artist of his time, Signac. Signac was an incredibly influential artist, credited with creating a new wave of neo-impressionism with another artist Seurat. This new wave was called pointillism. Vincet Van Gogh was heavily inspired by pointillism during his time in Paris, and it aided him in his discovery of his own style. While in Paris, he would paint studies of the Seine, small enough that they were easy to take with him.

The “Ponton de la Felicite” at Asnieres (Opus no. 143), Signac, 1886

Bank of the Seine, Van Gogh 1887 

Here we can see one of Van Gogh’s paintings of the Seine. Notice how the leaves of the trees are painted with the stipple technique and small points of paint. Compare this to the trees in Signac’s painting above, which are painted in this pointillist that Van Gogh is adapting. However, as our eyes move down the water in Van Gogh’s painting, the brushstrokes grow wider. This demonstrates how he adapts Signac’s technique and create an entirely personal style. The way he paints the water of the Seine resembles the style used in his later paintings, including a seascape he paints of the Mediterranean.