Signac’s Stolen ‘Le Port de la Rochelle’ Found in Kyiv
By Esme Franks
A painting by Paul Signac (1863-1935), the celebrated Neo-Impressionist painter, has been found and returned after going missing from the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nancy in 2018. A Ukrainian man has been sentenced for its theft.
Le Port de la Rochelle, 1915. Image: WikiArt
Le Port de la Rochelle (1915) is an example of Signac’s later style. He was a Neo-Impressionist; he played a pioneering role in the development of Pointillism, which responded to the free, spontaneous and individualistic approach to painting of the Impressionists with a more scientific and methodological attitude. The aim was essentially the same – of evoking powerful but sensitive atmosphere and feeling – but Pointillism required the artist to employ individual, usually very small paint strokes of pure colour, carefully juxtaposed for maximum optical effect with those next to it. Signac was influenced in his development of a Pointillist technique by Georges Seurat, who helped him define the divisionist style evident in Le Port de la Rochelle, evoking Signac's tranquil impression of the seascape. It was part of his series of paintings of ports, which also included those of Saint Tropez, Marseille, La Rochelle and Rotterdam.
Gallery workers noticed the painting’s empty frame just moments after the theft took place. Measuring 46x55cm, its small size facilitated the painting’s seamless abduction. The three thieves used a box cutter to remove the canvas before rolling it up and concealing it in a raincoat, leaving the gallery completely undetected. CCTV footage shows that the men had not disguised themselves with masks. Thus, the gallery's masterpiece disappeared, completely, for three years.
Pure coincidence led to its rediscovery during the recent raid of a Ukrainian murder-suspect's home in Kyiv. Under questioning, the man admitted that there was a fragile, valuable painting in the cupboard which needed to be treated carefully. Eventually, he named 64-year-old art collector Vadym Huzhva as the mastermind behind the theft. Huzhva was then serving jail time in Austria, having been convicted of stealing a Renoir painting in Vienna, also in 2018. Huzhya and his lawyer Samira Boudiba have denied the allegation; in court on Monday, he said: “I don’t see how I have anything to do with this. You have no proof of your allegations.”
According to a regional French newspaper, Huzhya was found guilty by the Nancy Criminal Court on 4th February. Also convicted of stealing four other works of art, he must pay an estimated $325,000 dollars in damages and has been sentenced to five years in prison. Le Port de la Rochelle, however, is finally back on public display at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nancy.
Bibliography
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Nicolas, Eric. L’Est Rébublicain, Nancy. Vol d’un tableau au musée des Beaux-Arts : de 3 à 5 ans de prison ferme, 31 Jan 2023. https://www.estrepublicain.fr/amp/faits-divers-justice/2023/01/31/vol-d-un-tableau-au-musee-des-beaux-arts-de-3-a-5-ans-ferme
Schrader, Adam. UPI. Ukrainian art dealer sentenced for heist of Paul Signac painting from French museum - UPI.com. 4 Feb 2023. https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2023/02/04/ukrainian-art-dealer-sentenced-heist-paul-signac-painting-french-museum/9581675566135/
Willsher, Kim. The Guardian, “Ukrainian man goes on trial in France over theft of £1.3m painting found in Kyiv.” 30 Jan 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/30/france-paul-signac-painting-theft-trial-ukrainian