Landscape in Arges Valley 1959

Henri Catargi made this landscape painting in 1959, probably with oil on canvas or board. Look at the way the paint is put on – it’s not trying to hide itself, is it? You can see the strokes, the way the brush moved. It’s honest about being paint. There’s this feeling of a real place, but it’s also very much about the stuff of painting itself. Take the big tree on the left. It's not just a tree; it’s built from slabs of color, ochres and browns laid on top of each other. See how the sky is almost the same color as the distant hills? It’s like Catargi is collapsing space, bringing everything into one plane of feeling. It reminds me a little of the way Cezanne would build up forms with color. It's not about copying nature, but finding a new way to see it, a way that’s all about color and surface and touch. And it's a conversation, this painting, a little nod to the past, but with its own voice.