May-June 1887

Vincent experiments with Paul Signac’s painting technique, often called pointillism, in which a multitude of small colored dots are applied to the canvas to create an optical blend of hues. Throughout the spring and summer, Vincent ventures to Asniéres, a suburb northwest of Paris, to paint views of the Seine and the parks and cafés found there. Vincent’s canvases become intensely colored as a result of experimenting with the latest techniques.

In May he begins to apply paint more thickly once again and replaces the thin hatchings with longer, fuller strokes.

– Alisia Robin Coon, Van Gogh Timeline, in Becoming van Gogh, Denver Art Museum, 2012, 256