Artwork
Breakfast
Breakfast is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Paul Signac. It dates from 1894 and is held in the collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work captures a moment of daily life, focusing on the arrangement of objects and the presence of the three individuals in a bourgeois setting.
Paul Signac's Breakfast is a genre scene depicting a domestic interior where a man, a woman, and a housekeeper are situated within a dining room. The composition centers on a table set with specific breakfast items, including a plate, a stemmed cup, a spoon, a carafe, and a napkin, alongside a book and a houseplant. Elements such as a window with curtains and various chairs frame the figures, establishing a quiet, everyday atmosphere.
The work captures a moment of daily life, focusing on the arrangement of objects and the presence of the three individuals in a bourgeois setting.
History & Provenance
Paul Signac created the oil painting Breakfast in 1886. The work is executed on canvas and measures 89 cm in height by 115 cm in width. It belongs to the genre art classification and depicts an interior dining scene featuring a man, a woman, and a househousekeeper surrounded by domestic objects such as a table, chairs, and a window with curtains. The piece is currently held in the collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum.
The work is held by the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, the Netherlands. It is inventoried as KM 109.442.
It was exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris in 1887 and at the Salon de la Société des Artistes Indépendants in 1888.
Overview
Created in 1894, Breakfast is an oil painting by French Neo‑Impressionist Paul Signac. Executed in the Pointillist manner he helped devise, the work presents an interior scene illuminated by daylight, rendered with the characteristic dotting of color that defines his mature style.
Technique & Style
Signac applies paint in dense, stippled strokes that build a textured surface, a technique derived from Pointillism but rendered with broader, more impasto‑like applications. The palette is dominated by cool blues and whites, producing a luminous yet restrained atmosphere that balances detail with an overall sense of calm.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Paul Victor Jules Signac ( seen-YAHK, French:; 11 November 1863 – 15 August 1935) was a French Neo-Impressionist painter who, with Georges Seurat, helped develop the artistic technique Pointillism.
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