Full-size ink on paper "cartoons" such as this were used by the artist to plan the compositions of his oil paintings

Paul Signac
French, 1863-1935
Bridge over the River Seine
ca. 1912-21
Ink wash on paper

Lent by the Steven and Dorothea Green Collection

Paul Signac grew up admiring Monet's work, but by the mid-1880s he joined with other "Neo-Impressionists," including Seurat and Pissarro, to discipline painting by applying scientific theories of color and composition. In 1894 he renounced painting in oils outdoors, preferring to work en plein air ("in the open") in watercolor only, using his sketches to plan more contemplative paintings in the studio. He then turned to ink wash on paper to prepare full-size "cartoons" such as this for his oil paintings, carefully arranging the composition along geometric lines.

The final oil, Paris: La CitŽ, repeats this view of the Seine looking east to the Ile de la CitŽ. The pedestrian Pont des Arts crosses in front of the island containing the cathedral of Notre Dame, whose twin towers stand in the distance. At the exact center of the page rises the spire of the Sainte-Chapelle.

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