The Signal Tower 1911

Curator: "The Signal Tower," painted by Maxime Maufra in 1911. A landscape steeped in a very particular kind of light… Editor: It feels like standing on the edge of a dream, doesn't it? All that soft, granular texture, the way the colours blend and blur… like a half-remembered seaside story. Curator: Maufra was a master of plein-air painting, really immersed himself in the landscape. As a committed Republican, Maufra associated with politically engaged artists like Félix Fénéon. The coastlines of Brittany were of political importance at that time. Editor: And you feel that… the solitary structure feels almost stoic against the approaching storm. It is so compelling that these thick swathes of colour create a feeling that there might have had any danger for a human being on this coast line. There is so much loneliness, I feel it in my bones. Curator: Loneliness yes, but there's resilience there, too, perhaps representative of something or someone local. I suppose the signal tower also stands for modernity – at that point, technology was changing the coastal landscape and life of many seaman more dramatically than the climate, or anything else, was. Editor: Absolutely, that quiet defiance is what makes it so touching. You have also reminded me, those curious windows on the structure's face that look like empty eyes—adds an oddly personal feel, and also some surrealism—and connects the manmade with its landscape. Is that deliberate, do you think? Curator: I would say that he invites the public to read more than merely "landscape" into it. There's definitely an open-ended quality. Editor: Right. A landscape of the mind as much as a physical place. Makes me want to grab my paints, my windbreaker and try to paint just to show what is there on this coast! Curator: See? The painting calls us, across time. Makes me reflect on how that coast line have changed over the decades. I believe the place stands up also as a stark comment about humanity as well. Editor: Very powerful, if so... And what else can art achieve after all! I feel enriched, seeing our history is so linked and dense on coasts like this.