Dimensions: support: 730 x 916 mm frame: 983 x 1170 x 115 mm
Copyright: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Curator: Christopher Wood painted "Church at Tréboul." Wood, who lived from 1901 to 1930, captures a specific place, though the date of this work remains unknown. Editor: It's like a memory, isn't it? Distilled. The color palette seems subdued but rich. It feels like an overcast day by the sea. Curator: The steeple dominates, yet it's human activity in the foreground that anchors us. Fishing, a way of life. The church, a spiritual counterpoint. Editor: I get a sense of community here. Figures working together with the imposing church in the background, like daily life unfolding under the eye of tradition. Curator: There's a deliberate flattening of perspective. It echoes early religious painting, a visual language of spiritual presence. Editor: It's definitely a world of its own. A little melancholic, maybe, but also quite comforting in its simplicity and clear, bright style. Curator: Exactly, the painting shows how visual symbols hold cultural memory, don't you think? Editor: Absolutely. I am charmed by its timeless appeal.
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Wood spent June and July 1930 painting in Brittany, basing himself in Tréboul, close to Douarnenez. This area was popular with both British and French painters and was close to Pont-Aven, which had been made famous by Gauguin whose work, together with that of Van Gogh, was important to Wood. In the space of 40 days Wood painted some 60 canvases both from life and, at night, from postcards, mostly depicting scenes from the daily lives of the fishing community. Moving from the depiction of boats to architecture he claimed helped him to paint a ‘quieter composition’. Gallery label, September 2016
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