# What's the name of this painting? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 20, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-name-of-this-painting/275833 "2004-11-20T14:47:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-name-of-this-painting/275833/1 "2004-11-20T14:47:33Z")
The day before yesterday I visited the Pushkin museum in Moscow and was extremely taken in by a stunning impressionist painting by Paul Signol. It showed a beach with a little house in the distance and a tiny flagpole flying the French flag. The entire picture consisted of small splotches of paint. Like many impressionist paintings you couldn’t even tell what it was up close, and the further away you got, the more beautiful it became. It’s name was Beach at Saint… Something. I’m buggered if I can remember the bit after Saint, and for some reason I can find exactly precisely nothing about it on the internet. Can anyone fill in that last word for me? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-name-of-this-painting/275833/2 "2004-11-20T16:14:19Z")
Someone’s been at the vodka, niet comrade? A few missing details made it a tricky to track down. The splotchy gives it away. I think the artist is Paul Signac, founder (more or less) of the pointillist movement. The paintings name is La Plage Sable (The Sandy Beach), not The Beach at St Something. It’s definitely splotchy, there’s the little French flag in the background and was painted in1890. Hopefully, [this](http://web.sbu.edu/english/faculty/cgannon/CLAR_109/signac_sandybeach_1890.html) is it. If not, I’m gonna look stoopid. ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-name-of-this-painting/275833/3 "2004-11-20T17:24:13Z")
Could it be a beach at Saint-Tropez? Signac visited (and painted) the resort frequently throughout his life. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-name-of-this-painting/275833/4 "2004-11-22T12:16:05Z")
Apparently I have been at the vodka, 'cause that’s definitely it. Fucking marvellous painting to see in real life. However, I’m sure that the painting’s name, according to the plaque next to it at the museum anyway, was Beach at Saint-Something. I’m getting more and more certain that it was Saint-Criac or Saint-Griac. There’s only one thing for it: I’ll have to go back to the museum and check, or I’ll go insane. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-name-of-this-painting/275833/5 "2004-11-22T18:21:33Z")
[Probably](http://www.repubblica.it/gallerie/online/cultura_scienze/rau/3.html) [St.](http://www.metmuseum.org/special/Signac/50.L.htm) [Briac](http://www.accademiacarrara.bergamo.it/iniziat/Rau/visita/spbriacz.html) I don’t know where you live, but the second picture is currently in the Met. Check it out next time you’re in New York. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-name-of-this-painting/275833/6 "2004-11-22T21:27:12Z")
Eek! Pointilism! It keeps making me want to tune the picture properly. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-name-of-this-painting/275833/7 "2004-11-23T10:52:47Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > [Probably](http://www.repubblica.it/gallerie/online/cultura_scienze/rau/3.html) [St.](http://www.metmuseum.org/special/Signac/50.L.htm) [Briac](http://www.accademiacarrara.bergamo.it/iniziat/Rau/visita/spbriacz.html) There’s only one answer: some bright bulb at the Pushkin museum got the paintings mixed up and labelled it wrong. > [@](#): > > I don’t know where you live, but the second picture is currently in the Met. Check it out next time you’re in New York. I’ve never been there and the odds are against me ever going, but if I ever do, the Met will be one of my first stops.