Paul Signac

French artist Paul Signac (1863-1935) was a leading neo-Impressionist who became influenced by Seurat and whose Parisian studio was the meeting place for many artists, including Pissarro and Matisse (Signac was the first person to buy a Matisse painting). Signac's other love was sailing, and from 1892 he travelled around the Dutch and French coasts and as far as the Mediterranean, bringing back many sketches and watercolours, from which he worked up large paintings formed of tiny mosaics of colour. He published in 1889 From Delacroix to Neo-Impressionism, still regarded as the basic text. From 1908 until he died, Signac was president of the Independents, and encouraged many young artists.