Saint-Tropez by Yvonne Canu

Yvonne Canu
1921-2008 | French

Saint-Tropez

Signed "Canu" (lower right)
Titled "Saint-Tropez" (en verso)
Oil on canvas

An idyllic seaside cityscape of Yvonne Canu's beloved Saint-Tropez at dusk, this compelling composition captures the essence of the coastal French city and showcases Canu’s celebrated technique. Rendered with painstaking dots of pure color brilliantly blended together to form a cohesive work of art, this pointillist composition displays exquisite vibrance, exemplifying Canu’s distinctive Post-Impressionist style. Canu's use of minuscule points of pigment and bright colors in her painting of her most favorite subject results in a stunning scene full of light and motion.

Born in Morocco in 1921, Yvonne Canu traveled to Paris to study at the reputable École des Arts Decoratifs. Following the First World War, she entered the circle of the French-Japanese painter Tsuguharu Foujita and the Impressionist Élisée Maclet, both of which profoundly influenced the development of her style. She experimented with not only the impressionist style, but also cubism early in her career. However, it would be the great Georges Seurat who had the most impact on her artistic aesthetic. Inspired by the artist's masterpiece A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Grande Jatte, Canu adopted the pointillist technique and made the style her own.

Canvas: 18" high by 15 7/8" wide
Frame: 23" high by 21" wide