Les Andelys. L’île a Lucas shows Signac at the height of his devotion to pointillist technique and dates to a key moment not only in his art, but in the emergence of Neo-Impressionism. It is a lovely, emotionally restrained painting that emphasizes formal precision, yet its gentle luminosity retains the impression of the painter as poet and creator rather than of the scientist. That said, for many, its optical mixture was as startling as it was a revelation that presented an abject challenge to the instinctive art of the Impressionists. Signac arrived at the twin towns of Les Andelys in early June 1886 following two months living with Camille Pissarro at Éragny-sur-Epte. When the second Salon of the Société des Artistes Indépendants opened on August 21, 1886, Signac, serving on the hanging committee, chose Les Andelys. L’île a Lucas as one of four Les Andelys depictions to be included.  

Unlike Seurat, who wrote to Signac that “while you see Les Andelys as colorful, I see the Seine as an almost indefinable gray sea, even under the strongest sun,” Signac was charmed by the beauty of Les Andelys. Having been introduced to sailing by Gustave Cailebotte the previous year, Signac had fallen in love with the river, so it is not surprising that he set his easel across the Seine, directed his gaze to the distant twelfth-century church spire and painted the transparencies and scintillating reflections of the water. In total, Signac painted ten Les Andelys pictures. Most were gifted to friends and relatives likely because he recognized their significance and wanted to keep them within easy reach. Les Andelys. L’île a Lucas was given to his childhood friend, the writer Charles Torquet.