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Three ALSs signed "Paul Signac," "P. Signac," and "P.S.," totaling five pages on two sheets and a postcard, all to art critic Louis Vauxcelles, with one, written from St. Tropez, featuring a wonderful landscape sketch at the top. In one letter, on Société des Artistes Indépendants, dated August 18, 1920, Signac gives a firsthand account of the sensitivities among the artists surrounding the Impressionist exhibition of 1886: Degas envies Seurat the success of his painting, 'La Grande Jatte'; Manet refused to invite Gauguin, as he did not consider him a painter, etc.
In part (translated): "My dear Vauxcelles, I would be very happy to be honored by 'L'Amour de l'Art' and I thank you for your kind thought. I will consult the profound Fénéon; since the signature F.F. appears from time to time in the Bulletin artistique (the sole purpose of this dull publication), there is some hope. That would be magnificent. Lucie Cousturier has a Signac in progress, but for Berson, I believe we must always wait for his return from his ghostwriters. Will he come back? Finally, I will venture a guess at F.F. Despite his hatred of the scribe's profession, perhaps he will exceptionally spoil his old friend?—We've known each other since 1886 (9th Impressionist Exhibition, Maison Dorée, where Degas—who, however, had invited Seurat and me—was jealous of the success of A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, and where Mr. Manet, husband of Berthe Morizot, opposed inviting Gauguin, who, he said, 'isn't even a painter'—indeed, Gauguin was at a low point…Floury is re-releasing my booklet. I haven't changed anything in the text of the Revue Blanche (however!) I've only modified the dedication where I've included the name of my dear Henri-Edmond Cross next to Seurat's and added this wish 'For color' which seems relevant to me—Long live Delacroix, Louis Vauxcelles."
Félix Fénéon (1861–1944) was a French anarchist, journalist, and art critic in Paris. On the occasion of the Eighth (not the Ninth, as erroneously stated by Signac) Impressionist Exhibition in 1886, he coined the term Neo-Impressionism for the artistic style of a group of artists around Paul Signac and Georges Seurat, whom he had championed extensively. After lengthy debates, the exhibition (the last of its kind) was not held at Durand-Ruel's, as had been the seven previous Impressionist exhibitions, but rather at the Maison Dorée, in five rooms rented by the artists. As Signac suggests, there was great disagreement among the exhibiting artists: Monet, Renoir, Sisley, and Caillebotte all refused to participate.
The letter from St. Tropez carries an elegant original sketch by Signac, dated March 15th and reads, in part (translated): "thank you for the great help, for the guys from the Independents and for me: We are here, you are here too: It will be all right! Please also note among the reasons that prevent us from exhibiting these months, that we need to give our younger colleagues, who will be released, time to get back to work. Next spring there will be the good rush of handcarts, from Montparnasse and Montmartre…Towards our barracks or towards the Grand Palais, if we know how to seize it, as is fitting."
Last is a postcard depicting the harbor of Port-en-Bessin, postmarked October 11, 1923, in part (translated): "All thanks from the watercolorist, who just took something because of a small crossing on the Channel." In overall fine condition.
