Paysage De Buis-les Baronnies 1943

This painting of Buis-les-Baronnies by Cassandre, is a landscape rendered in quiet, earthy tones. It feels like a memory, softened by time and reflection, made using thin paint, with the textures of the canvas just visible beneath the surface. Look closely at the way Cassandre builds up the cliffs on the right side of the image. See how the vertical strokes of creamy, beige paint suggest both the form of the rock face, and the way light reflects from it? The brushwork isn't showy, yet it creates a solid, weighty presence. The paint is thinly applied, giving a sense of transparency that allows the underlayers to peek through. This gives the painting an ethereal quality, a feeling of light and air. It reminds me of Corot, who also sought to capture the poetry of the everyday, or maybe even a little bit of Cezanne. Like them, Cassandre isn’t so much interested in capturing a specific view, more so, the feeling of being in the landscape. It’s this ambiguity, this invitation to wander and wonder, that makes the painting so compelling.