Landscape la ciotat 1922

Georges Valmier painted this landscape, perhaps in oil, abstracting La Ciotat into crisp, geometric forms. The colors are so interesting, like a slightly muted, softened version of early modernism. I like to think about how Valmier constructed the composition, almost like building blocks or paper cut-outs, deciding where each block of color and shape would sit. The paint application looks pretty smooth and even, without much visible texture. It’s all about the interplay of shapes and colors. Take the central triangle, filled with what looks like a cloud, or a row of houses, the forms are ambiguous. This pushes the painting into a zone of pure visual delight, and puts me in mind of other artists who use abstraction to evoke a sense of place, like, say, Marsden Hartley or Stuart Davis. It's like Valmier is asking: what is a landscape, really, but a collection of shapes and colors we arrange in our minds?