In 1891, Henri Cross began painting in a pointillist style influenced by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. He also left Paris and moved to the south of France, settling in Saint-Clair, a small village near Saint-Tropez. There, he concentrated on seascapes and scenes of peasants in harmony with nature. The sensuous silhouettes of cypresses and the swaying circle of figures by the water’s edge exemplify Cross’s decorative treatment of landscape, also recalling the Japanese color woodcuts and Art Nouveau designs that inspired other neo-Impressionists at the time.