Tartans with Flags

Tartans with Flags (1893) is one of several paintings Signac made of traditional Provençal fishing boats — tartans and their colourful lateen sails — moored in southern French harbours, which he was visiting regularly from Saint-Tropez by the early 1890s. The flags decorating the boats give the scene a festive, patriotic dimension and introduce strong chromatic accents into the harbour composition. By 1893 Signac was at the height of his early mature divisionist style. Von der Heydt Museum.

The boat rigging, flags, and harbour reflections are rendered in systematic dots of primary and secondary hues. The flags' red, white, and blue provide strong chromatic anchors within the broader warm-toned harbour. Water reflections dissolve the boats' geometric forms into shimmering colour fields.