Henri Edmond Cross

Henri-Edmond Cross was a French painter and a leading figure of Neo-Impressionism, the movement built on painting with small, separate dots of color. Born in 1856, he worked closely with Paul Signac and helped develop this careful, scientific approach to color, in which the eye blends the dots into glowing, shimmering scenes. He favored sunny landscapes of the French Mediterranean coast.

Over time his dots grew larger and looser, and his bright, mosaic-like color influenced the young Fauvist painters who came after. His idyllic scenes of the south of France, full of light and warm color, have a dreamy, almost utopian mood. Cross is remembered as an important bridge between Neo-Impressionism and the bold color of early modern art.