L'homme du désert 1972

Curator: Looking at Jean Hugo’s watercolor piece from 1972, titled "L'homme du désert," what strikes you first? Editor: The muted color palette, a dreamy landscape almost entirely in pale purples and golds. It has a very soft, gentle presence, but is oddly lonely. Curator: "The Man of the Desert" appears alone on a meandering road; considering Hugo’s history, how do you interpret that figure? He lived through two world wars. Editor: Knowing this work was produced in the 70s and acknowledging the abstraction here, I can imagine the artist perhaps wanted to portray the solitude of man after the major geopolitical changes due to WWII. Maybe even post-colonialism and displacement of persons. Curator: I find that interesting. My eye, looking at this piece through formal elements, see the lone figure as crucial to the entire landscape's visual unity and meaning. Editor: How so? Curator: Consider the semiotics of line, color and form. The curves in the pathway and the puffy clouds lead back to that central, diminutive figure in the midground. The path bisects the artwork. What would be left of this scene without this organizing principle? It serves a great visual need in a simple, efficient manner. Editor: I appreciate the attention you bring to the interplay of figure and ground here; it certainly enhances the symbolic reading of it all. Curator: Exactly. For me, that’s a crucial takeaway here. It really opens up other discussions on formalism versus a kind of sociological historicizing. I mean, there’s certainly merit to your points on gender and global affairs and social concerns, and historical movements but… Editor: Yes, while not separate concerns by any means, it is nice to occasionally zoom into those core aesthetic values in any work of art. I thank you for shifting my perspective a bit. Curator: As do I. It is always important to ground abstract concepts in what our senses reveal, first.