Vermillion to Azure: Painting in the South of France

This Special Interest Morning takes us from the russet earth and verdant river-banks of the ‘Côte Vermeille’ of French Catalonia in the western Mediterranean, eastwards to the dazzling light and intense colours of the French Riviera – the ‘Côte d’Azure’ of Provence. The first of two talks discusses Impressionists and Modernists in this ancient region, mostly French artists from Paris, and we then follow in the footsteps of artists from Britain who fell in love with the light, the climate and the simple, elegant culture of the south of France.

Many of the artists and landscapes we will see in these talks will feature in the Royal Academy’s forthcoming exhibition ‘Painting the French Riviera’.

Lecture One:

Taking the Blue Train: French Artists in the South of France
Wealthy tourists discovered the seductive beaches and villages of Provence during the 1860s when a new railway from Paris gave easy access to the south of France. For the Impressionists and early Modernist artists, the streets of Paris, the countryside along the Seine, and the Normandy coast were favoured locations. But in 1886 the Calais-Paris-Mediterranée Express – “Le Train Bleu” – offered a quick and inexpensive journey south. This soon attracted painters who discovered that the living was cheaper in Provence, where the climate and the bright light of the coast from Collioure to Cannes were more conducive to painting en plein air than the rainy north. Cézanne, a native of Provence, led the way and artists from Monet to Matisse, and Van Gogh to Chagall found the natural colours inspiring. Justin takes us on a tour of the artists’ haunts and discusses their work in the landscape of southern France.

Lecture two:

Painting in a Different Light: British Artists in the South of France

The healthy climate of the coast of southern France was discovered by wealthy Britons on the Grand Tour during the 18th century Enlightenment, and became a favourite winter holiday destination for aristocrats and aesthetes by the 19th century, well before the influx of French artists from the north. The simple fishing villages along the coast between the borders with Spain and Italy were quiet havens from the bustle of Britain’s cities and the delightful climate gave welcome respite from the colder months of the British Isles.

Artists from Britain also found the region congenial, its clear light – like that of the Cornish peninsula – and subtle, saturated colours offering a new palette to work with. Justin shows us studies by Turner, and delightful watercolours by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, elegant landscapes by John Singer Sargent, some very creditable paintings by Churchill of his favourite holiday havens, and colourful, evocative paintings by David Hockney.

How to book this event:

Time: 10:30 for 10:45 start – until 3.15

Cost: £30 (coffee not included)

Contact by email: amh@bandahoward.co.uk

Tickets from Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1983272879571?aff=oddtdtcreator

THE ARTS SOCIETY ACCREDITED LECTURER

Mr Justin Reay

After officer service in the Royal Navy, Justin entered a long career in business, becoming CEO of a healthcare company, Director of European Cultural and Business Studies for a Japanese executive school at Oxford and Washington DC, and a consultant in management development. Retiring from business in 2001, he lectured and wrote on naval history and, as one of the historians working towards the bicentenary commemoration of the Battle of Trafalgar, Justin was given unprecedented access to the former Admiralty buildings in London. This encouraged him to study the History of Art and Architecture, for which he was awarded the University of Oxford’s Diploma with Distinction. He later completed a doctoral thesis on medieval naval weapons systems with the University of Exeter.

From 2002 he was senior lecturer in post-graduate marketing at Oxford FE College and is a qualified teacher. For six years from 2004 he also delivered courses in the Oxford / UCal Berkeley accredited residential schools. In 2011 he was appointed as tutor in the History of Art and Classical Civilization at leading tutorial colleges in Oxford, and also privately tutors undergraduate and post-graduate art history students.

Formerly a senior academic manager at the Bodleian Library, Justin is a published historian, and among his impending works are an edition of Samuel Pepys’s naval papers in the Bodleian’s collections, and a study of the Admiralty buildings in London. He is frequently engaged as an enrichment speaker on art history for a European cruise line. Justin is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and of the Royal Historical Society, a Governor of the RNLI, a Founder Member of the Grinling Gibbons Society, and a member of The Arts Society Cheltenham.