Landscape by André Derain

The landscape of the south of France offers to Derain André an exceptional plastic playground, favorable to research on light and the synthesis of forms. In this oil work entitled “Landscape”, the painter moves away from the Fauvism of his youth to embrace a renewed constructive rigor. This creation is part of a modern rereading of nature, reconciling flat areas of color and the geometry of hills.

The painting presents a hilly landscape under an intense blue sky dotted with a large, highly luminous white cloud. Hills with soft, rounded shapes, painted in shades of pink ochre and warm brown, rise toward the horizon. In the foreground, clumps of dark green vegetation and dense bushes border a yellow dirt path that winds on the left. A tree with a dark trunk and rounded foliage stands on the right of the scene, vertically structuring the canvas. The marked shadows of a deep blue color underscore the reliefs and give depth to the landscape.

The painter shows here a remarkable mastery of composition and volumes through balanced color contrasts. The application of oil paint in broad, mastered flat areas testifies to a great know-how and a fine sensitivity of a landscape painter. This work celebrates the harmony and serenity of Provencal nature.