Does an artist’s physical environment affect the kind of paintings he or she creates? Art work produced in Southern France gives us some clues. Many artists flocked to this area to work en plein air in the vibrant sunlight, which in turn transformed the way they painted.
Janetta Rebold Benton, Fulbright senior scholar and distinguished professor of art history at Pace University, looks at the variables of sun and sky, history, geography, culture—and even food and wine—that influenced the brilliantly colored canvases of Renoir, Van Gogh, Matisse, and Chagall.
10 to 11 a.m. Pierre-Auguste Renoir in Cagnes-sur-Mer
Les Collettes, the impressionist painter Renoir’s home, studio, and garden, was located in this waterside town just outside of Nice. Here, even when crippled by arthritis, Renoir continued to paint joyous pictures.
11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Vincent van Gogh in Arles and St. Remy
Although Dutch by birth, the post-impressionist painter van Gogh found inspiration in the vibrant light in Arles. It was here that he painted his celebrated canvases including Bedroom in Arles and The Night Café. During his stay in the clinic at St-Remy-de-Provence he painted The Starry Night.
12:15 to 1:15 p.m. Lunch
A French-inspired boxed lunch is provided
1:15 to 2:15 p.m. Henri Matisse in Nice
Known for his colorful patterns, called a fauve (Wild Beast) and an expressionist, Matisse lived on the French Riviera near Nice, an area that he captured in many of his landscape paintings.
2:30 to 4 p.m. Marc Chagall and the Colors of St-Paul-de-Vence
Themes of love and brilliant color dominate the joyous paintings of Chagall, who lived in St-Paul-de-Vence, one of the oldest medieval towns on the French Riviera, for 20 years.
World Art History Certificate elective: Earn 1 credit
