Henri Edmond Cross

Henri-Edmond Cross painted the Mediterranean in brilliant, mosaic-like colour. His later pictures are made of broad square dabs of pure pigment, with glowing pinks, violets, oranges and blues, and they show pine trees, rocky coves, Venetian canals and bathers in strong southern light.

He was born Henri-Edmond Delacroix in Douai in 1856 and changed his name to avoid confusion with the famous Delacroix. After a dark realist start he met Paul Signac and Georges Seurat and took up the dotted technique of Neo-Impressionism around 1891. That year he settled at Saint-Clair on the Côte d’Azur, near Le Lavandou, and stayed there for the rest of his life. His loose, bold later style had a real influence on Henri Matisse and the Fauves.

A Pine Grove, A Venetian Canal and Cap Layet are typical. Stand back and the colour patches merge into shimmering light. He died at Saint-Clair in 1910.