Georges Seurat (1859–1891)
1886, reworked around 1890
Oil paint on canvas
Honfleur, summer 1886
This painting depicts the busy port of Honfleur, with sailboats, steamships and buoys crowding its entrance. To the right are the tall signal mast and shorter lighthouse that provided navigators with indications of tide levels and access to the harbour. A contemporary postcard places us in the same spot as Georges Seurat, revealing how carefully he rendered the details of his surroundings. This painting was gifted by Seurat to the critic Félix Fénéon, an early supporter of the artist’s work. Fénéon coined the term Neo-Impressionism to describe Seurat’s radical new technique.
Postcard of Honfleur, ‘The Entrance of the Port’ around 1890–1910