JEANNE SELMERSHEIM-DESGRANGES (Paris, 1877-19... Lot n° 36

BOUQUET DE FLEURS Oil on oval canvas Signed and dated 1909 on the back 65 x 54 cm Jeanne Adèle studied painting with Paul Signac, who became her partner in 1910 Together they had a daughter, Ginette, whom Signac adopted in 1927. In a will of 1928, discovered late, Signac designated Ginette as his universal legatee. Let us recall that Signac disliked the term pointillism. "The neo-impressionist does not pointillate, but divides", he insists. For it is not a matter of simply covering a canvas with small multicoloured dots, but of dividing the colours according to very precise rules. So much so that when the spectator moves away, the dots methodically applied next to each other are no longer perceptible but merge, melt into our eyes to create harmonious, vivid and luminous tints. This is the optical mixture that Georges Seurat would use, influenced by the scientific research of the chemist Michel-Eugène Chevreul. To obtain "a maximum of colour and light" was Signac's aim, and he asked his emulators to eliminate "all dull or dark colours", particularly grey. Above all, never "be afraid of appearing garish by being too colourful" nor "seek brightness and power by all possible means"! In the painting we present, Jeanne has applied the principles of her master and companion by dividing the colours to create a bright bouquet.