Painters in Provence

Under the deep blue sky, as deep as the Mediterranean sea, and under the shade of a plane tree, numerous painters have paid tribute to the Provence, in which the unique light accompanies so well its special sounds and scents.

There is not just one Provence. Each Provence has its own scenery, but their common elements are the sun and the blue sky and that special light that charmed so many painters:

The Provençal native is Paul CEZANNE, famous because of his paintings of “La Sainte- Victoire”, the major landmark of the Aix area, and one of his favorite motifs. His paintings of Aix en Provence and surroundings (Le Tholonet, L’Estaque...) had a great influence on the cubist painters Braque and Picasso.

It was probably Toulouse Lautrec who advised Vincent VAN GOGH to come to Provence to study and to admire its special brightness. Van Gogh made Arles his city, but made a lot of other places famous by his paintings: Saint-Rémy the Provence where he stayed in a psychiatric hospital, La Crau, the valley near the Camargue, and Sainte Marie de la Mer, a small fishing village where he painted the beach with the fishing boats and their small whitewashed houses with thatched roofs.

Paul GAUGUIN spend some time in Arles with his friend Vincent Van Gogh and they placed their ezels in the same spots but painted it in a complete different style (“les Alyscamps").

When Pablo PICASSO painted the first cubist painting “Les Demoiselles D’Avignon” he did not seem to know the Papal city but accompanied some years later his friend Georges BRAQUE into Provence. He found there which his native Spain could not offer him anymore (He did not want to return there as long as a dictator was in power): the bright light, the heat, the culture and the Mediterranean countryside.
Picasso has been buried next to his wife Jacqueline at his castle of Vauvenargues, at the foot of the mountain “La Sainte Victoire”.

We love our countryside and we love “our” painters, so if you want to share with us our passion come and join us, we can organize a special “painters tour” in Provence.