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Provenance: Galerie Marseille, Paris
Private Collection, France
By descent from
the above and sold: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 25, 1991, lot 44
Acquired
at the above sale
Exhibited:
Lyon, Union régionale
des Arts plastiques, Salon Sud-Est, 1927, no. 110
Paris, Grand Palais
des Champs-Elysées, Société des Artistes Indépendants. Catalogue de
l'exposition, 1928, no. 3967 (titled Entrée du port de la
Rochelle)
Paris, Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paul
Signac, 1930, no. 46
Paris, Petit Palais, Exposition Paul
Signac, 1934, no. 40 (titled La Rochelle)
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Notes: Literature:
René-Jean, "Le Salon des
Indépendants," Comoedia, Paris, January 1928,
discussed p. 3
Maximilien Gauthier and Maurice Duplay, "Le
vernissage des indépendants," La Rumeur,
Paris, January 1928, illustrated pp. 1-2
Gustave Kahn,
"L'Exposition des Indépendants," Le
Quotidien, Paris, January 1928, discussed p. 5
L'Imagier, "Le Salon des artistes indépendants,"
L'Oeuvre, Paris, January 1928, discussed p. 5
Louis
Paillard, "Au Salon des Indépendants," Le Petit
Journal, Paris, January 1928, discussed pp. 1-2
Van der Pyl,
"Le Salon des Indépendants," Le Petit Parisien,
Paris, January 1928, discussed p. 2
Thiébault-Sisson, "Le Salon
des Indépendants," Le Temps, Paris, January 1928,
discussed p. 3
André Warnod, "Le Salon des Indépendants
s'ouvre aujourd'hui au Grand Palais,"
L'Avenir, Paris, January 1928, discussed pp. 1-2
C.R., "Aux Indépendants," L'Ere
nouvelle, Paris, January 1928, discussed p. 1
G. de Pawlowski,
"Le Salon des Indépendants au Grand Palais," Le
Journal, Paris, January 1928, discussed p. 4
Roger Lesbats,
"Un vernissage au Grand Palais. Une visite au Salon des
Indépendants," Le Populaire, Paris, January 1928,
discussed pp. 1-2
André Warnod, "Au Salon des
Indépendants," Comoedia, Paris, January 1928, discussed
p. 2
Le Peuple, Paris, January 1928, discussed p. 2
Robert Rey, "Le 39e Salon des Indépendants,"
L'Europe nouvelle, Paris, January 1928, discussed p. 112
Gustave Kahn, "La 39e Exposition des Indépendants,"
Mercure de France, Paris, February 1928, discussed p. 199
Charles Fegdal, "Le Salon des Indépendants," Nice-
Méditerranée, no. 14, 1928, discussed p. 75
Toussaint-Martel,
"Le Salon des artistes indépendants," La Revue des
Indépendants, Paris, April 1928, discussed p. 119
Abel
Bonnard, "Le Salon des Indépendants," Les Annales,
Paris, February 1929, illustrated p. 177
Marc Sandoz, "Signac et
Marquet á La Rochelle, Les Sables d'Olonne, La Chaume, Croix de Vie.
Influence du site sur leur oeuvre. Oeuvres inédites 1911-1933,"
Dibutade, IV, Poitiers, 1957, p. 12
Françoise Cachin,
Signac, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Paris,
2000, no. 577, illustrated p. 328
Signac's preoccupation with
the port of La Rochelle began in 1911, when he first visited this picturesque
site on the Atlantic coast of France. The artist revisited this small fishing town
many times, in order to capture on canvas the brightly colored fishing boats
as they sailed into the harbor between the Tour de St. Nicholas and the Tour
de la Chaîne. According to Marina Ferretti-Bocquillon, ``Asked in 1922 why
he painted La Rochelle so often, Signac is said to have replied: 'I go
there for the boats: for the color of the hulls and the sails. A magnificent
sight! They come from all over to sell fish, it's like a library of
boats''(Marina Ferretti-Bocquillon, Anne Diestel, John Leighton,
and Susan Alyson Stein, Signac 1863-1935 (exhibition
catalogue), New York, 2001, p. 271).
In Le Thonier entrant á La
Rochelle (couchant), Signac has depicted a tuna boat entering the
port at the end of the day. The rare side view of the vessel provides
evidence of the time Signac spent examining the activity in La Rochelle; the
artist has rendered the full sails catching the evening breeze, lending the
craft a dignified presence as it sails into the port. By leaving the crenellated
top of the Tour de St. Nicholas unobstructed, the artist has emphasized the
unique architecture of La Rochelle and provided a memorable and distinctive
portrait of this active harbor.
