This century has
been one of turmoil, of cruel world wars, severe economic crises, the advent
of Aids and social problems no one can solve. All this is mirrored in contemporary
painting which is often harsh, extreme in expression, obsessed with destroying
in order to reconstruct, espousing tormented forms, macabre subjects and brutally
aggressive colours. And this to such a point that the art-lover is lost, unable
to distinguish authentic artistic expression from mere extravagance, from pointless
provocation or mediatic sensationalism.
And yet there are signs which reveal the beginnings of a reaction to
these apocolyptic trends. Weary of mediocre excesses, of impostures, of depressing
atmospheres. Weary of work totally imbued with the anguish of our times. There
is rediscovery of the true value of things, or the sense of beauty; and with
this return to first principles, a rediscovery of happiness in simple pleasures
and familiar harmonies.
Could it be any other way for a painter who lives, as I do, where Paul
Cézanne painted some of his most famous pictures, "La Montagne Sainte-Victoire
vue des Lauves"? Confronted each day with this splendid landscape, never
the same. Then, the mind trancends all models, and colour takes dominion, emerging
from a blackness which magnifies it. And the harmony of the composition, be
it a landscape or a still life with fruit, is consummated in the harmony of
colour.
This painting is no longer agony and anguish, sombre despair and endless,
hopeless questioning. It has become a comfort, a pleasure of the senses, a window
onto a world of peace, a refuge after the difficulties of the day. And the painter
has achieved his work, having provided that spiritual supplement so much needed
today.
Jacques Loiseau
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