Artists Inspired by ProvenceInspire

Painting the South

The south is a world of light. Luminescent brightness is the first, clearest and most lasting impression it makes when you arrive, and its absence is what hits you when you go back north. For a painter, the challenge is somehow to evoke this world using colours and canvas. It’s a challenge which forces the benighted northerner to seek out entirely new methods of painting, looking and seeing.

Impressionism – or anything like impressionism – is no technique for the south. There’s no subtlety here, no gradation of light and shade, just as there’s no gradation of the summer heat. There are hot places and there are cool places: there are light places and there are places immersed in dark, stark-edged shadow. Colours are intense, radiating blocks or shimmering, light-flecked pools. Solid shapes of blue, green and the tones of hot earth confront you unflinchingly.

Cezanne #AixenProvenceLook at a photo of the local landscape and you’ll see this – blue sky, dark green trees (enlivened, perhaps, by light olive, sunflowers or lavender), and yellow-red-white soil. It can make a great photo, but it won’t shine if you paint it as it is. What, then, can the artist do? How can you draw the light in through the solid tones?

Cezanne #Cezanne #AixenProvence

Well, you can start by looking at the masters. Cézanne picks out and exaggerates the stark shapes (like Mont Sainte-Victoire), lightening the greens and heightening the yellows and reds. Often he just paints sparingly, letting the white canvas carry the brightness through.

Mont Sainte-Victoire views #MontSainteVictoire #Provence

Van Gogh, on the other hand, runs with the intensity of colour, bringing out the shimmering light in vibrant swirls and patterns. So do the Fauves – Matisse and Derain – though they go for the colours between the colours, so a green olive becomes its complementary red, or a blue sky violent orange. They also let the canvas shine through (think of Matisse’s later open windows and odalisques) and, in the case of Matisse, ultimately let the light itself paint itself. Visit his chapel in Vence and see how the beams of the coloured windows play across the bleached interior.

I haven’t mentioned Picasso: Picasso doesn’t paint the landscape. But he, if anyone, paints the feeling of the south – and the feeling is born of the landscape, the heat and the light. This is a world of shapes as arresting as Mont Saint-Victoire, of bulls, bright colours and white heat.

Mont Sainte-Victoire views #MontSainteVictoire #Provence

So there we are, and here I am, in the south with my paintbrush in hand, the sun in my eyes, and the paint drying far too quickly on my palette. So many lessons – so many visions – so many possibilities. Time to get on with it, then – there’s a world of light out there!

Painting in the South #Artists #Provence by Duncan Barker

 

.

Please share this with friends and family.

All rights reserved. Perfectly Provence articles and other content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten (including translations into other languages) or redistributed without written permission. For usage information, please contact us.
Syndication Information
Affiliate Information
As an Amazon Associate, this website earns from qualifying purchases. Some recipes, posts and pages may have affiliate links. If you purchase via these links, we receive a small commission that does not impact your price. Thank you in advance for supporting our work to maintain Perfectly Provence.
Previous post

Expat farewells

Next post

Irresistible French Fashion for Summer

Carolyne Kauser-Abbott

With her camera and laptop close at hand, Carolyne has traded in her business suits for the world of freelance writing and blogging. Her first airplane ride at six months of age was her introduction to the exciting world of travel.

While in Provence, Carolyne can be found hiking with friends, riding the hills around the Alpilles or tackling Mont Ventoux. Her attachment to the region resonates in Perfectly Provence this digital magazine that she launched in 2014. This website is an opportunity to explore the best of the Mediterranean lifestyle (food & wine, places to stay, expat stories, books on the region, travel tips, real estate tips and more), through our contributors' articles.

Carolyne writes a food and travel blog Ginger and Nutmeg. Carolyne’s freelance articles can be found in Global Living Magazine, Avenue Magazine and City Palate (Published Travel Articles).

No Comment

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.