The friendship between Signac and Valtat
Audio guide in English
French Federation of Historical Audioguides
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Prior to becoming friends, it was the paintings by Louis Valtat (1869-1952) that appealed to the painter and collector Paul Signac (1863-1935). Signac was a defender of pure colour and divisionism inherited from the neo-impressionist Georges Seurat, and he appreciated the very colourful art of his younger counterpart. Perhaps also because Valtat, in spite of various influences, remained rather unclassifiable and Signac admired free spirits.
The two artists shared a taste for colour and for the South of France. In a letter dated February 10, 1899, Signac wrote to Valtat, "I envy you being there, among that blue, that red and that green." Valtat replied: "You can count on a visit to Saint-Tropez if we find ourselves in the south at the same time. I've been wanting to meet you for a long time." After discovering Agay, Valtat built a house in Anthéor, and from there regularly visited Signac in Saint-Tropez. A strong bond of friendship was woven between the two men and their respective wives. During their regular reunions, they talked about painting, but also about the French provencal fish stew, the “bouillabaisse”, and engines! Indeed, the correspondence between the two artists revealed another common passion: cars. In their exchanges it is almost as much a question of oils and spare parts as it is about paint and colour ... In 1904, Signac acquired Valtat’s painting Women at the Seashore in exchange for his Bollée, a three-wheeled motorcar, which gave Valtat the means to paint landscapes.
The painting, Women at the Seashore, prompted Signac in 1905 to orchestrate the hanging of the artwork in the dining room of his house in Saint-Tropez, thereby establishing a dialogue between Matisse's painting Luxe, calme et volupté and L'Air du Soir by Cross. By placing Valtat up with a neo-impressionist and a young Fauvist (“Wild Beast”), Signac not only showcased Valtat’s singularity but the high esteem in which he held him. The Signac collection included a total of ten works by Valtat.
As an exhibition organiser and activist, Signac further contributed to the recognition and posterity of Valtat. In 1899, he organised a group exhibition at the gallery Durand-Ruel, named "all the painters of our generation who are the defenders of a new idea." Among the two hundred works presented, Valtat's paintings were displayed close to those by Luce, Cross, Van Rysselberghe and Signac himself. The same year, Signac included Valtat in ‘the list of "ten beautiful painters”' that he sent to the businessman and collector Charles Lelong. Finally, in 1917, he was successful in getting one of Valtat’s paintings into a foreign public collection: that of the Helsinki Museum in Finland. The painting Figures in the Sun thus joined the Finnish national collections.
May 2022
Charlotte HELLMAN-CACHIN
Great-granddaughter of Paul Signac
The two artists shared a taste for colour and for the South of France. In a letter dated February 10, 1899, Signac wrote to Valtat, "I envy you being there, among that blue, that red and that green." Valtat replied: "You can count on a visit to Saint-Tropez if we find ourselves in the south at the same time. I've been wanting to meet you for a long time." After discovering Agay, Valtat built a house in Anthéor, and from there regularly visited Signac in Saint-Tropez. A strong bond of friendship was woven between the two men and their respective wives. During their regular reunions, they talked about painting, but also about the French provencal fish stew, the “bouillabaisse”, and engines! Indeed, the correspondence between the two artists revealed another common passion: cars. In their exchanges it is almost as much a question of oils and spare parts as it is about paint and colour ... In 1904, Signac acquired Valtat’s painting Women at the Seashore in exchange for his Bollée, a three-wheeled motorcar, which gave Valtat the means to paint landscapes.
The painting, Women at the Seashore, prompted Signac in 1905 to orchestrate the hanging of the artwork in the dining room of his house in Saint-Tropez, thereby establishing a dialogue between Matisse's painting Luxe, calme et volupté and L'Air du Soir by Cross. By placing Valtat up with a neo-impressionist and a young Fauvist (“Wild Beast”), Signac not only showcased Valtat’s singularity but the high esteem in which he held him. The Signac collection included a total of ten works by Valtat.
As an exhibition organiser and activist, Signac further contributed to the recognition and posterity of Valtat. In 1899, he organised a group exhibition at the gallery Durand-Ruel, named "all the painters of our generation who are the defenders of a new idea." Among the two hundred works presented, Valtat's paintings were displayed close to those by Luce, Cross, Van Rysselberghe and Signac himself. The same year, Signac included Valtat in ‘the list of "ten beautiful painters”' that he sent to the businessman and collector Charles Lelong. Finally, in 1917, he was successful in getting one of Valtat’s paintings into a foreign public collection: that of the Helsinki Museum in Finland. The painting Figures in the Sun thus joined the Finnish national collections.
May 2022
Charlotte HELLMAN-CACHIN
Great-granddaughter of Paul Signac
Visit the surroundings
Valtat Garden Antheor
The stylistic expression of Valtat in Anthéor
France - Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur - Var - Saint-Raphaël