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Paul Signac (1863–1935) was a passionate sailor. He owned several sailboats moored in the port of Saint-Tropez. It was this passion and the dazzling light of the Côte d'Azur that inspired a series of luminous harbour and coastal paintings. The version in the Von der Heydt Museum is an excellent example. In front of a brightly lit row of houses in the background, four ships are depicted preparing to set sail. Their pennants and sails are stretched by the wind. Like arrows, the ships lie on the water with their pointed jibs.

Signac was initially inspired by Impressionism, particularly Claude Monet (1840–1926), before meeting Georges Seurat (1859–1891) in 1885 and joining his attempts at artistic renewal. In contrast to Impressionist landscapes, which sought to capture the fleeting moment, the proponents of Neo-Impressionism sought to give landscape "a definitive, absolute aspect", according to the art critic Félix Fénéon (1861–1944). The spontaneous brushwork of Impressionism was replaced by a systematic application of paint. The paint was made up of dots of the same size and covered the canvas evenly. This new form of painting, redefined according to scientific rules, required a slow working process in the studio rather than the rapid, weather-dependent outdoor painting. The painting 'Sailboats in the Port of Saint-Tropez' is a characteristic example of the static, calm imagery of Neo-Impressionism.