MOUNT ERRIGAL PAINTED BY PAUL HENRY

PAUL HENRY (1877-1958)

 Mount Errigal  (751m - 2, 464 ft)

Ireland 

The mountain

Mount Errigal  (751m - 2, 464 ft) called in Irish An Earagail, possibly meaning "oratory" is a mountain near Gweedore in County Donegal, Ireland. It is the tallest peak of the Derryveagh Mountains, the tallest peak in County Donegal, and the 76th tallest peak in Ireland.  Errigal is also the most southern, steepest and highest of the mountain chain, called the "Seven Sisters" by locals. The Seven Sisters includes Muckish, Crocknalaragagh, Aghla Beg, Ardloughnabrackbaddy, Aghla More, Mackoght and Errigal. The nearest peak is Mackoght, which is also known as Little Errigal or Wee Errigal (Irish: an Earagail Bheag). Errigal is well known for the pinkish glow of its quartzite in the setting sun. Another noted quality is the ever-changing shape of the mountain depending on what direction you view it from. Errigal was voted 'Ireland's Most Iconic Mountain' by Walking & Hiking Ireland in 2009.
Climbing
The mountain is most often climbed from the carpark off the R251 road. The route initially starts off by crossing heavily eroded and boggy land towards a visible track through the shiny scree from where the ascent proper starts. After reaching the summit, people usually walk the short but exposed walk along ‘One Man’s Pass’ which leads across to the second and lower of the twin summits. No special equipment is needed to climb the mountain, but caution is advised.

The painter
Paul Henry was an Irish artist noted for depicting the West of Ireland landscape and particularly landscapes of Achill Island and Connemara in a spare post-impressionist style. Born in Belfast, Ireland, the son of a Baptist minister, Paul Henry began studying at Methodist College Belfast in 1882. During this period he first began drawing regularly. At the age of fifteen he moved to the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. He studied art in Belfast before going to Paris in 1898 to study at the Académie Julian and at Whistler's studio. He married the painter Grace Henry in 1903 and returned to Ireland in 1910. From then until 1919 he lived on , where he learned to capture the peculiar interplay of light and landscape specific to the West of Ireland. In 1919 he moved to Dublin and in 1920 was one of the founders of the Society of Dublin Painters.  In the 1920s and 1930s Paul Henry was Ireland's best known artist, one who had a considerable influence on the popular image of the west of Ireland. Although he seems to have ceased experimenting with his technique after he left Achill and his range is limited, he created a large body of fine images whose familiarity is a testament to its influence. The National Gallery of Ireland held a major exhibition of his work in 2004.
A painting by Paul Henry was featured on an episode of the BBC's Antiques Roadshow, broadcast on 12 November 2006. The painting was given a value of approximately £40,000 - £60,000 by the roadshow. However, due to the buoyancy of the Irish art market at that time, it sold for €260,000 on 5 December 2006 in James Adams' and Bonhams' joint Important Irish Art sale.
Source: 
- Paul Henry and Achill Island

ACHILL HEAD / ACAILL PEINT PAR PAUL HENRY

PAUL HENRY (1877-1958)
Achill Head / Acaill (688m)
Irlande  (Mayo)

Le relief
Achill Head  (Acaill en Gaelic) est un cap de l'ile d'Achill en irlande. L'île d'Achill dans le comté de Mayo est la plus grande île d’Irlande avec une superficie de 146 km2. Située sur la côte ouest de l'Irlande, Achill y est aujourd'hui reliée par le pont Michael-Davitt. Sa population est de 2 700 habitants. Les falaises du Croaghaun sur la côte nord-ouest de l’île, inaccessibles par la route, sont les troisièmes plus hautes falaises maritimes d’Europe. À la pointe ouest de l’île, près d’Achill Head, la baie de Keem a une des plus belles plages de la côte ouest de l’Irlande. La grande plage de Keel est très prisée par les touristes et les surfeurs. Le point culminant de l'île est le Croaghaun (688 m), situé au dessus de la baie de Keem ; vient ensuite (671 m) le Slievemore.

L'artiste
Paul Henry  est un artiste irlandais réputé pour représenter le paysage de l'ouest de l'Irlande dans un style post-impressionniste épuré. Henry commence à étudier au Collège méthodiste de Belfast en 1882. C'est à cette époque qu'il commence à dessiner régulièrement. À l'âge de quinze ans, il déménage à la Royal Belfast Academical Institution. Il étudie l'art à la Belfast School of Art avant d'aller à Paris en 1898 pour étudier à l'Académie Julian et à l'atelier de Whistler. En 1908, il est membre du premier comité du London Salon organisé par l'Allied Artists' Association. l épouse la peintre Grace Henry en 1903 et retourne en Irlande en 1910. Jusqu'en 1919, il vit sur l'île d'Achill, où il apprend à saisir les jeux de lumière et de paysage propres à l'ouest de l'Irlande. En 1919, il s'installe à Dublin et en 1920, il est l'un des fondateurs de la Society of Dublin Painters, à l'origine un groupe de dix artistes. Henry conçoit plusieurs affiches ferroviaires, dont certaines, notamment Connemara Landscape, connaissent des ventes considérables4. Il se sépare de sa femme en 1929. Sa deuxième femme est l'artiste Mabel Young.
Dans les années 1920 et 1930, Henry est l'artiste irlandais le plus connu, celui qui a une influence considérable sur l'image populaire de l'ouest de l'Irlande. Bien qu'il semble avoir cessé d'expérimenter sa technique après son départ d'Achill et que sa portée soit limitée, il crée un grand nombre de belles images dont la familiarité témoigne de son influence.
L'utilisation de la couleur par Henry est affectée par son daltonisme rouge-vert. Henry perd la vue en 1945 et ne la retrouve plus.
Une exposition commémorative de l'œuvre d'Henry a lieu au Trinity College de Dublin en 1973 et la National Gallery of Ireland organise une exposition majeure de son œuvre en 2004.

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2025 - Gravir les montagnes en peinture..

AGHLA MORE / EACHLA MÖR BY PAUL HENRY

 PAUL HENRY (1876-1958) 

Aghla More / Eachla Mör  (584 m -1,916 ft)

Ireland

The mountain 

Aghla More / Eachla Mör  (584 m -1,916 ft) is a mountain in County Donegal, Ireland. The mountain is the third most southern and fourth highest of the mountain chain, called the 'Seven Sisters' by locals (Muckish, Crocknalaragagh, Aghla Beg, Ardloughnabrackbaddy, Aghla More, Mackoght (also known as 'little Errigal') and Errigal. The Seven Sisters are part of the Derryveagh Mountain range.

The painter
Paul Henry was an Irish artist noted for depicting the West of Ireland landscape and particularly landscapes of Achill Island and Connemara in a spare post-impressionist style. Born in Belfast, Ireland, the son of a Baptist minister, Paul Henry began studying at Methodist College Belfast in 1882. During this period he first began drawing regularly. At the age of fifteen he moved to the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. He studied art in Belfast before going to Paris in 1898 to study at the Académie Julian and at Whistler's studio. He married the painter Grace Henry in 1903 and returned to Ireland in 1910. From then until 1919 he lived on , where he learned to capture the peculiar interplay of light and landscape specific to the West of Ireland. In 1919 he moved to Dublin and in 1920 was one of the founders of the Society of Dublin Painters.  In the 1920s and 1930s Paul Henry was Ireland's best known artist, one who had a considerable influence on the popular image of the west of Ireland. Although he seems to have ceased experimenting with his technique after he left Achill and his range is limited, he created a large body of fine images whose familiarity is a testament to its influence. The National Gallery of Ireland held a major exhibition of his work in 2004.
A painting by Paul Henry was featured on an episode of the BBC's Antiques Roadshow, broadcast on 12 November 2006. The painting was given a value of approximately £40,000 - £60,000 by the roadshow. However, due to the buoyancy of the Irish art market at that time, it sold for €260,000 on 5 December 2006 in James Adams' and Bonhams' joint Important Irish Art sale.

DJEBEL SAGHRO PEINT PAR HENRY OSSAWA TANNER

HENRY OSSAWA TANNER (1859-1937)
Djebel Saghro (2,712m)
Maroc

In The Good Shepherd (Atlas Mountains, Morocco) (c. 1930) Oil on fiberboard, 75.8 x 91.3 cm. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC (Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Norman Robbins)

 

La montagne
Le djebel Saghro (2,712m) appelée en berbère : Adrar Saghru est une montagne du Sud marocain qui  se situe à l'est de Ouarzazate, à 70 km au sud du Haut Atlas central, dominant les vallées du Drâa à l'ouest et au sud, et celle du Dadès au nord. Il constitue la partie orientale de l'Anti-Atlas. Son histoire géologique est très ancienne avec une alternance de phases volcaniques, de sédimentation puis d'érosion. Les premiers reliefs volcaniques sont constitués de trachytes et de rhyolites. Leur érosion a formé des conglomérats et des grès. Il y a eu ensuite des périodes de sédimentation continentale, puis marine (gisements de trilobites). Le soulèvement de la période hercynienne donne la forme générale du massif. Plusieurs épisodes tectoniques avec issue de roches magmatiques (dolérites), puis volcaniques au Tertiaire  avec libération de phonolithes se prolongent jusqu'à l'orée du Quaternaire. L'érosion complète la morphologie actuelle du massif. Des mines sont exploitées sur le versant nord à Tiouit (or, argent). Les villages, peu nombreux, se réduisent à quelques petites maisons entourées d’un bouquet de palmiers ou d’amandiers. Les nomades de la tribu des Ait Atta y font paître leurs troupeaux de chèvres et de moutons en attendant la transhumance vers le Haut Atlas comme dépeint dans cettet oile d'Henry Taner, Le Berger de Dieu.  

Le peintre
Henry Ossawa Tanner est un peintre afro-américain qui atteignit la renommée internationale pour ses peintures de paysages et d'inspiration religieuse. Henry Ossawa Tanner1 est né à Pittsburgh, en Pennsylvanie.  En 1864, il suivit sa famille à Philadelphie où il commença à se passionner pour les arts. Dès 1876, il se met à dessiner des paysages et des animaux vus au zoo de Philadelphie. De 1879 à 1885, il suit des études à la Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts et a pour professeur Thomas Eakins6 Thomas Hovenden et William Merritt Chase. Henry Ossawa Tanner ouvre son propre atelier de peinture en 1886 à Philadelphie. En 1888, il s'installe à Atlanta où il ouvre un studio de photographie et parallèlement, enseigne le dessin à l'Université Clark. Une exposition de ses œuvres organisée par l'évêque méthodiste Joseph Crane Hartzell et son épouse lui permet de recueillir suffisamment d'argent pour fuir les États-Unis dont le racisme ambiant le décourage. En 1891, Henry Ossawa Tanner voyage en France, où il s'installera, il s'inscrit à l'Académie Julian où il étudie la peinture avec Jean-Joseph Benjamin Constant et Jean-Paul Laurens puis rejoint l’American Art Students Club de Paris. Il arrive à Étaples en 1900, là où se trouve la colonie artistique d'Étaples, sur les conseils de son ami Paul Dessart. Tout en vivant en Normandie, il garde un studio rue de Fleurus à Paris. En 1912, il voyage au Maroc en compagnie d'Hilda Rix Nicholas et d'Annie L. Simpson. En 1897, Henry Ossawa Tanner sort de l'ombre lorsque le gouvernement français achète sa peinture "The Raising of Lazarus" exposée au Salon de Paris. Grâce à ses peintures d'inspiration religieuse, il atteint une réputation internationale. En 1927, il sera le premier afro-américain à être élu membre de l'Académie américaine des beaux-arts.

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2011-2024 - Gravir les montagnes en peinture
Un blog de Francis Rousseau

ADRAR SAGRO PAINTED BY PAUL-JEAN FLANDRIN

PAUL-JEAN FLANDRIN (1811-1902)
Adrar Sagro  (2,712m - 8,897ft)
Morocco 

 In   "Les Gorges de l'Atlas, " 1843, oil on canvas, 1843, Private collection

The mountain
Adrar Saghro or Jebel Saghro (2,712m - 8,897ft) is a mountain in southern Morocco, located east of Ouarzazate, 70 km south of the central High Atlas, dominating the Drâa valleys to the west and south, and that of Dades to the north. It constitutes the eastern part of the Anti-Atlas. Jebel Saghro is the driest area of the Anti-Atlas range. Unlike the areas located further west, it does not benefit from a high enough air humidity due to the remoteness of the Atlantic Ocean. Annual precipitation does not exceed 100 mm in the south and 300 mm on the summits. Jebel Saghro is oriented along a southwest / northeast axis, and extends towards Jebel Ougnat east of Wadi Alnif and the Tizi n'Boujou pass. It borders the Dades valley and the High Atlas to the north and links the Drâa valley to the south. Lunar landscape of plateaus, peaks, canyons crossed by wadis, forests, all dominated by basalt peaks. Oleanders, junipers, mountain flowers ... occupy the valley bottoms. The north-south crossings are made by three passes crossed by difficult and very spectacular tracks: the Tazazert pass (2,283 m), the Kouaouch pass (2,592 m), and the Tagmout pass (1,919 m). The highest point of the mountain is Amalou n Mansour (2,712 m) which is located to the south-east of the village of Iknioun.
Charles de Foucauld, still only in search of adventure, is one of the first Western travelers to have described his crossing of Jebel Saghro (Reconnaissance au Maroc published in 1888 in Paris). It completes its description with a topographic survey. Jebel Saghro was also later the setting for fierce fighting linked to the progression of the French army within the framework of the protectorate, the battle of Bougafer (February-March 1933), in which the French troops allied to those of the Sultan of Morocco faced an impressive and heroic resistance from the Aït Atta tribes led by Sheikh Assou Oubasslam. It is in this massif that the famous captain Henry de Bournazel, one of the protagonists of this war, was killed in the fight against the Berbers, while assaulting the rocky dome.

 
The painter
Paul-Jean Flandrin is a French painter, younger brother of the painters Auguste Flandrin and Hippolyte Flandrin. he first received advice from the landscape and animal painter Antoine Duclaux, as well as from the sculptor Jean-François Legendre-Héral, before joining the École des beaux-arts de Lyon, then that of Paris and the workshop by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.
He failed twice in the Prix de Rome competition but nevertheless joined at his own expense his brother Hippolyte in Italy. They stayed in Rome for four years, during which Paul specialized in landscape painting. He carried out studies from nature which he used to undertake historical compositions which he presented at the Parisian Salons. He also regularly collaborates on the landscapes of his older brother's paintings. Flandrin continued until late in the nineteenth century this tradition of classical landscape of which he was one of the best representatives, alongside Édouard Bertin or his father-in-law Alexandre Desgoffe. He combines this with a sense of line and ideal inherited from the lessons of his master Ingres. Charles Baudelaire thus accuses him of wanting to “Ingriser” (painted like Ingres) the landscape, a criticism that will long be associated with it. 

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2021 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

MONT GAUSSIER PAINTED BY VINCENT VAN GOGH

VINCENT VAN GOGH  (1853-1890) 

Le Mont Gaussier (306 m -1,004 ft)  

France

In Le mas St Paul à Saint-Rémy de Provence, 1889, Kroller-Muller Museum, Netherlands

The mountain 
The Mont Gaussier (306 m -1,004 ft) is a summit of the Alpilles located south of the city of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France. Today, the place of passage of many hikers who cross it by the GR6, Mount Gaussier was very early used as habitat by protohistoric populations, before having at its summit a medieval castle, nowadays disappeared. Mount Gaussier is made of crystalline limestone, white and hard. One finds in the soil the trace of many fossils. This type of summit is characteristic of the Alpilles range of mountains, especially on the north face.
The first traces of habitation on Mount Gaussier are ancient. In 1996,  three sites dating from Protohistory and Late Antiquity were discovered at the summit and on the slopes. This is what emerges from the study of stones, tiles, ceramics and shards of amphora found on the premises. Moreover, the foundation of a wall was identified at the top during the same prospecting.
Most of the human activity of antiquity at Mount Gaussier nevertheless concentrated at the foot of it, since it was there that was built the Salyan city of Glanum (today Saint-Remy de Provence). Research carried out in 1996 and 1997 revealed that the well-preserved remains of a protohistoric rampart with towers have been cleared in several places, particularly on the ridges which dominate to the north-east and south-west the Saint- Clerg and at the foot of Mount Gaussier. The system of rampart which encircled the city in the 1st and 2nd centuries BC. J.-C. leaned on the cliffs of the mount Gaussier which border it on a hundred meters. It is also believed that Mount Gaussier, by its situation, could be used as an acropolis because of its plateau surrounded by cliffs and that its access from Glanum was made possible by a narrow corridor.
If, according to the archaeologist Henri Rolland, some families occupied the Alpilles range, on the slopes of Mount Gaussier, between the first Iron Age and the end of Antiquity, but also in the High Middle Ages, only the foot and the summit of the mountain were occupied in the following centuries, especially in the 5th and 6th centuries. It was here that a part of the inhabitants of Glanum took up residence after the ruin of the ancient city in the alluvial deposits of the mountain.
Mount Gaussier, like Glanum, then in ruins, and Saint-Remy-de-Provence, became property of the church of Avignon at the end of the 9th century in a county of Provence powered by Count Thibert.
It is possible to reach the Mount Gaussier from the ruins of Glanum or from La Caume by the GR6 climbing previously metal ladders.

 The  painter 
Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade he created about 2100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life. They include landscapes, still lifes, portraits and self-portraits, and are characterized by bold, symbolic colours, and dramatic, impulsive and expressive brushwork that contributed to the foundations of modern art. He died by suicide at 37, following years of mental illness and poverty.
Born into an upper-middle-class family, Van Gogh drew as a child and was serious, quiet and thoughtful. As a young man he worked as an art dealer, often travelling, but became depressed after he was transferred to London. He turned to religion, and spent time as a missionary in southern Belgium. Later he drifted in ill health and solitude. He took up painting in 1881 having moved back home with his parents. His younger brother Theo supported him financially, and the two kept up a long correspondence by letter.
Van Gogh's early works, mostly still lifes and depictions of peasant labourers, contain few signs of the vivid colour that distinguished his later work. In 1886 he moved to Paris where me met members of the avant-garde, including Emile Bernard and Paul Gauguin, who were reacting against the Impressionist sensibility. As his work developed he created a new approach to still lifes and local landscapes. His paintings grew brighter in colour as he developed a style that became fully realised during his stay in Arles in the south of France in 1888. He lived there in the Yellow House and, with Gauguin, developed a concept of colour that symbolised inner emotion. During this period he broadened his subject matter to include olive trees, cypresses, wheat fields and sunflowers.
Van Gogh suffered from psychotic episodes and delusions and, though he worried about his mental stability, he often neglected his physical health, not eating properly and drinking heavily. His friendship with Gauguin came to an end after he threatened the Frenchman with a razor, and in a rage, cut off part of his own left ear. His stay in a psychiatric hospital in Saint-Rémy led to one of the more productive periods of his life. He discharged himself and moved to the Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris under the care of the homeopathic doctor and artist, Paul Gachet. On 27 July 1890, Van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a revolver. He died from his injuries two days later.
He sold only one painting during his lifetime, and was considered a madman and a failure. He became famous after his suicide. Van Gogh exists in the public imagination as the quintessential misunderstood genius, the artist "where discourses on madness and creativity converge". His reputation began to grow in the early 20th century as elements of his painting style came to be incorporated by the Fauves and German Expressionists. He attained widespread critical, commercial and popular success over the ensuing decades, and is remembered as an important but tragic painter, whose troubled personality typifies the romantic ideal of the tortured artist.
Van Gogh and Saint Remy de Provence
Van Gogh entered the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole  asylum  in Saint-Rémy de Provence on 8 May 1889, accompanied by his carer, Frédéric Salles, a Protestant clergyman. Saint-Paul was a former monastery in Saint-Rémy, less than 30 kilometres (19 mi) from Arles, and was run by a former naval doctor, Théophile Peyron. Van Gogh had two cells with barred windows, one of which was to be used as a studio. During his stay, the clinic and its garden became the main subjects of his paintings. He made several studies of the hospital's interiors, such as Vestibule of the Asylum and Saint-Rémy (September 1889). Some of his works from this time are characterised by swirls, such as The Starry Night. He was allowed short supervised walks, which led to paintings of cypresses and olive trees, including Olive Trees with the Alpilles in the Background 1889, Cypresses 1889, Cornfield with Cypresses (1889),  Mont Gaussier  and Mas St Paul (1889), Country road in Provence by Night (1890). In September 1889 he produced two further versions of Bedroom in Arles.
Limited access to life outside the clinic resulted in a shortage of subject matter. Van Gogh was left to work on interpretations of other artist's paintings, such as Millet's The Sower and Noon – Rest from Work (after Millet), as well as variations on his own earlier work. Van Gogh was an admirer of the Realism of Jules Breton, Gustave Courbet and Millet, and he compared his copies to a musician's interpreting Beethoven.
Albert Aurier praised his work in the Mercure de France in January 1890, and described him as "a genius". In February Van Gogh painted five versions of L'Arlésienne (Madame Ginoux), based on a charcoal sketch Gauguin had produced when she sat for both artists in November 1888. Also in February, Van Gogh was invited by Les XX, a society of avant-garde painters in Brussels, to participate in their annual exhibition. At the opening dinner a Les XX member, Henry de Groux, insulted Van Gogh's work. Toulouse-Lautrec demanded satisfaction, and Signac declared he would continue to fight for Van Gogh's honour if Lautrec surrendered. De Groux apologised for the slight and left the group. Later, while Van Gogh's exhibit was on display with the Artistes Indйpendants in Paris, Claude Monet said that his work was the best in the show.  After the birth of his nephew, Van Gogh wrote "I started right away to make a picture for him, to hang in their bedroom, branches of white almond blossom against a blue sky."

BEN HOPE / BEINN HÒB PEINT PAR MAXIME MAUFRA

MAXIME MAUFRA (1861-1918)
Ben Hope / Beinn Hòb  (927 m)
Royaume-Uni (Ecosse)

In "Nuit d'Été, Ben Hope, Ecosse," huile sur toile, 60.5 x 73.5 cm. Collection privée

La montagne
Ben Hope /Beinn Hòb  (927 m) est une montagne du nord de l'Écosse. C'est le sommet le plus au nord, seul dans la Flow Country (une région de landes couvertes de tourbe) au sud-est du Loch Hope à Sutherland. La montagne forme un cône à peu près triangulaire, avec un grand rocher à l'ouest et deux épaulements inférieurs au sud et au nord-est. Les fleurs alpines sont abondantes en saison, même si le sol est très rocheux. La route principale vers le sommet commence à Strathmore, à l'ouest de la montagne, où se trouve un parking sur une petite route. L'itinéraire longe le brûlis d'Allt-na-caillich qui descend à travers une brèche dans les rochers orientés à l'ouest. Le parcours est raide, mais bien balisé avec des cairns occasionnels et non exposé. L'approche par l'est est moins souvent utilisée car il y a une vaste étendue de landes couvertes de bruyères sans route. L'approche par le nord n'est pas possible pour les marcheurs, car il n'y a pas de chemin entre les rochers. La vue depuis le sommet englobe le Pentland Firth, le Loch Eriboll et les montagnes voisines d'Arkle et Foinaven. Les îles Orcades sont visibles par temps clair.

Le peintre
Maxime Maufra est un peintre, graveur et lithographe français postimpressionniste. Il s’initie à la peinture avec Charles Leduc et son frère Alfred Leduc à Nantes, en reproduisant des paysages des bords de Loire, mais son père qui a décidé d'en faire un homme d'affaires, lui fait faire un séjour linguistique en Angleterre à Liverpool. Là, il découvre ce qu'est réellement la peinture, notamment celle de Turner. Il visite le Pays de Galles et l’Écosse, dont les paysages lui seront une source d'inspiration. Il revient en France en 1884, il mène de front son activité professionnelle et ses travaux picturaux. Il est alors initié à l’impressionnisme par Charles Le Roux.
En 1886, il est remarqué par Octave Mirbeau, lors d'une exposition au Salon de Paris. Cette même année il participe à l'Exposition des beaux-arts de Nantes qui se tient tous les trois ans et à laquelle sont conviés les peintres déjà consacrés et ayant participé au Salon parisien, dont Eugène Boudin, Léon Bonnat, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Jules-Élie Delaunay, Émile Dezaunay, avec lequel il va lier une grande amitié, Jean-Léon Gérôme, Henry Moret, Camille Pissarro, Auguste Renoir, Georges Seurat ou Alfred Sisley. Dans les années 1880, il parcourt ensuite la Normandie et la Bretagne pour peindre des marines et des paysages et s'installe à Paris en 1892, revenant chaque année en Bretagne. C'est lors d'un séjour à Pont-Aven en 1890 qu'il rencontre Paul Gauguin et Paul Sérusier (1864-1927).  Il est alors fortement influencé par le synthétisme, style inventé par Émile Bernard (1868-1941) et développé par Gauguin, qui traduit les formes en aplats colorés disposés selon un motif décoratif.  Il décide alors de se consacrer pleinement à la peinture et s'installe à Pont-Aven. Il fréquente, en 1891 et 1892, l'auberge de Marie Henry au Pouldu en compagnie de Charles Filiger. Il retrouve Gauguin quelques années plus tard à Paris en 1893. C’est l’occasion d’encouragements et de soutien réciproques entre ces deux artistes qui se respectent. Il témoigne néanmoins d'une pointe de scepticisme signalant son indépendance de caractère : « Je restais trois mois dans ce pays breton de Pont-Aven où je n’entendais parler que vert Véronèse pur, chrome, etc., théories de couleurs plus ou moins absurdes. Je préfère la coloration vive, mais on peut peindre avec du noir… Le tout est d’être peintre, et quoique ce mot déplaise à certains, il faut d’abord s’exprimer en cette langue. »
En 1892, Maufra fréquente avec son ami Émile Dezaunay, l'atelier d'Eugène Delâtre où ils réalisent leurs premières gravures, influencés par Paul Gauguin. Il est le premier à s'installer au Bateau-Lavoir à Montmartre en 1893, et son atelier est fréquenté par ses amis Dezaunay, Aristide Briand, ainsi que le poète Victor-Émile Michelet. En 1892 il expose une monographie de son œuvre à la deuxième exposition des peintres impressionnistes et symbolistes au Le Barc de Boutteville (Paris),
Il expose ensuite à la galerie Durand-Ruel qui sera son marchand jusqu'à la mort de l'artiste, et organisera de nombreuses expositions de ses œuvres.
Au printemps 1894, ils se fréquentent à nouveau avec Gauguin en Bretagne au Pouldu, puis Maufra part à la découverte du Trégor finistérien. Il finit par approfondir sa propre voie en abordant les paysages avec une prédilection pour les marines de Bretagne. Il a également visité la région du Dauphiné et les environs du Havre.
Après un voyage en Écosse à l'été 1895, il épouse à Londres Céline Le Floc'h, dont il avait fait la connaissance à Pont-Aven.
Écrivant à un ami en 1897, il déclara : « Je cherche les grands horizons, les cieux !... Je voudrais que les paysages soient classiques, simples et immenses »
En 1903, il est cofondateur avec  du Salon d'automne au Petit Palais et il expose en 1904.
Il est nommé Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur en 1906 et peintre de la Marine en 1916.
Militant régionaliste, Maxime Maufra est l'un des animateurs de la section « beaux-arts » de l’Union régionaliste bretonne.
Il meurt d'une crise cardiaque le 23 mai 1918 au Pont à Poncé, où il avait planté son chevalet.

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2024 - Wandering Vertexes / Gravir les montagnes en peinture
Un blog de Francis Rousseau

MONT SAINT-MICHEL BY THE LIMBOURG BROTHERS

THE LIMBOURG BROTHERS (1385-1416) 

 Mont Saint-Michel (92 m - 302 ft)

France (Normandie)

In Le Mont Saint Michel - La Fête de l'Archange, Tempera on velum, 1411-1416,
in The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, Musée Condé, Chantilly, France

The mount  

Le Mont-Saint-Michel (92 m - 302 ft) is an island commune in Normandy, France. Mont Saint-Michel (first called Mont Tombe) consists of leucogranite, which solidified from an underground intrusion of molten magma about 525 million years ago, during the Cambrian period, as one of the younger parts of the Mancellian granitic batholith. Early studies of Mont Saint-Michel by French geologists sometimes describe the leucogranite of the Mont as "granulite", but this granitic meaning of granulite is now obsolete.

It is located about one kilometre (0.6 miles) off the country's northwestern coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and is 100 hectares (247 acres) in size.

The island has held strategic fortifications since ancient times and since the 8th century AD has been the seat of the monastery from which it draws its name. The structural composition of the town exemplifies the feudal society that constructed it: on top, God, the abbey and monastery; below, the great halls; then stores and housing; and at the bottom, outside the walls, houses for fishermen and farmers. The commune's position - on an island just 600 m from land - made it accessible at low tide to the many pilgrims to its abbey, but defensible as an incoming tide stranded, drove off, or drowned would-be assailants. The Mont remained unconquered during the Hundred Years' War; a small garrison fended off a full attack by the English in 1433.  The reverse benefits of its natural defence were not lost on Louis XI, who turned the Mont into a prison. Thereafter the abbey began to be used more regularly as a jail during the monarchy.

One of France's most recognizable landmarks, visited by more than 3 million people each year, Mont Saint-Michel and its bay are on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

 Over 60 buildings within the commune are protected in France as  "Monuments historiques" (Historical buildings).

In the 11th century, the italian architect William di Volpiano was chosen by Richard II, Duke of Normandy, to be the building contractor of the Mont Saint-Michel church. He designed the Romanesque church of the abbey, daringly placing the transept crossing at the top of the mount. Many underground crypts and chapels had to be built to compensate for this weight; these formed the basis for the supportive upward structure that can be seen today.

Robert de Thorigny, a great supporter of Henry II of England (also Duke of Normandy), reinforced the structure of the buildings and built the main façade of the church in the 12th century.

In 1204, Guy de Thouars, regent for the Duchess of Brittany, as vassal of the King of France, undertook a siege of the Mount. After having set fire to the village and having massacred the population, he was obliged to beat a retreat under the powerful walls of the abbey. The buildings, and the roofs fell prey to the flames. Horrified by the cruelty and the exactions of his Breton ally, Philip Augustus offered Abbot Jordan a grant for the construction of a new Gothic architectural set which included the addition of the refectory and cloister.

Charles VI is credited with adding major fortifications to the abbey-mount, building towers, successive courtyards, and strengthening the ramparts.

Since 2001, a community of monks and nuns of the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem, sent from the mother-house of St-Gervais-et-St-Protais in Paris, have been living as a community on Mont Saint-Michel. They replaced the Benedictine monks who returned to the Mount in 1966. They are tenants of the centre for National Historical Monuments and are not involved in the management of the abbey. The community meets four times a day to recite the liturgical office in the abbey itself (or in the crypt of Notre-Dame des Trente Cierges in winter). In this way, the building keeps its original purpose as a place of prayer and singing the glory of God. The presence of the community attracts many visitors and pilgrims who come to join in the various liturgical celebrations.

In 2012, the community undertook the renovation of a house on the Mount, the Logis Saint-Abraham, which is used as a guest house for pilgrims on retreat.

The artists 

The Limbourg brothers, or in Dutch Gebroeders van Limburg (Herman, Paul, and Johan; fl. 1385 - 1416), were famous Dutch miniature painters from the city of Nijmegen. They were active in the early 15th century in France and Burgundy, working in the style known as International Gothic. They created what is certainly the best known late medieval illuminated manuscript, the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry.

At the end of 1399 the brohers  were travelling to visit Nijmegen but, owing to a war, they were captured in Brussels. Since their mother could not pay the ransom of 55 gold escuz, the local goldsmiths' guild started to collect the money. Eventually Philip the Bold paid the ransom for the sake of their uncle Malouel, his painter. 

From surviving documents it is known that in February 1402, Paul and Johan were contracted by Philip to work for four years exclusively on illuminating a bible. This may or may not have been the Bible Moralisée, Ms.fr.166 in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, which is indisputably an early work by the Limbourg brothers. Philip II died in 1404 before the brothers had completed their work.

After Philip's death, Herman, Paul, and Johan later in 1405 came to work for his brother John, Duke of Berry (Jean, Duc de Berry) who was an extravagant collector of arts and especially books. Their first assignment was to illuminate a Book of Hours, now known as the Belles Heures du Duc de Berry (The Beautiful Hours of the Duke of Berry) held in The Cloisters of the MET in New York City. This work was finished in 1409 much to the satisfaction of the duke, and he assigned them to an even more ambitious project for a Book of Hours. This became the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, (The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry)  which is widely regarded as the peak of late medieval book illumination, and possibly the most valuable book in the world.

When the three painters and their sponsor died in 1416, possibly victims of plague, the manuscript was left unfinished. It was further embellished in the 1440s by an anonymous painter, who many art historians believe was Barthélemy d'Eyck. In 1485–1489, it was brought to its present state by the painter Jean Colombe on behalf of the Duke of Savoy. 

Acquired by the Duc d'Aumale in 1856, the book is now MS 65 in the Musée Condé, Chantilly, France.

Consisting of a total of 206 leaves of very fine quality parchment, 30 cm in height by 21.5 cm in width, the manuscript contains 66 large miniatures and 65 small. The design of the book, which is long and complex, has undergone many changes and reversals. Many artists contributed to its miniatures, calligraphy, initials, and marginal decorations, but determining their precise number and identity remains a matter of debate. Painted largely by artists from the Low Countries, often using rare and costly pigments and gold, and with an unusually large number of illustrations, the book is one of the most lavish late medieval illuminated manuscripts.

After three centuries in obscurity, the Très Riches Heures gained wide recognition in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, despite having only very limited public exposure at the Musée Condé. Its miniatures helped to shape an ideal image of the Middle Ages in the collective imagination, often being interpreted to serve political and nationalist agendas.  This is particularly true for the calendar images, which are the most commonly reproduced. They offer vivid representations of peasants performing agricultural work as well as aristocrats in formal attire, against a background of remarkable medieval architecture.

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2017 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau 

JABAL NIBU / HAR NEVO / MOUNT NEBO BY ROBERT HAWKER DOWLING

ROBERT HAWKER DOWLING (1827 -1886)

Jabal Nibu / Har Nevo / Mount Nebo  (817m - 2, 680ft) 

 Jordan 

 In Moses on Mont Nebo overlooking the Promised Land, oil on canvas, 1860

The mountain 

Jabal Nībū   (817m - 2, 680ft)  in arabic iجبل نيبو‎,   in Hebrew: הַר נְבוֹ Har Nevo, in english Mount Nebo is an elevated ridge in Jordan,  mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Deuteronomy cap34 v1) as the place where Moses was granted a view of the Promised Land. The view from the summit provides a panorama of the Holy Land and, to the north, a more limited one of the valley of the River Jordan. The West Bank city of Jericho is usually visible from the summit, as is Jerusalem on a very clear day.
According to the final chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses ascended Mount Nebo to view the Land of Israel, which God had said he would not enter, and to die there; he was buried in an unknown valley location in Moab.
According to Christian tradition, Moses was buried on the mountain, although his place of burial is not specified.(Deuteronomy 34:6). 
Some Islamic traditions also stated the same, although there is a grave of Moses located at Maqam El-Nabi Musa, 11 km (6.8 mi) south of Jericho and 20 km (12 mi) east of Jerusalem in the Judean wilderness.
 Scholars continue to dispute whether the mountain currently known as Nebo is the same as the mountain referred to in Deuteronomy.
According to 2 Maccabees, (2:4–7), the prophet Jeremiah hid the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant in a cave there.
On March 20, 2000, Pope John Paul II visited the site during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. During his visit he planted an olive tree beside the Byzantine chapel as a symbol of peace. Pope Benedict XVI visited the site in 2009, gave a speech, and looked out from the top of the mountain in the direction of Jerusalem.
On the highest point of the mountain, Syagha, the remains of a Byzantine church and monastery were discovered in 1933. The church was first constructed in the second half of the 4th century to commemorate the place of Moses' death. The church design follows a typical basilica pattern. It was enlarged in the late fifth century A.D. and rebuilt in A.D. 597. The church is first mentioned in an account of a pilgrimage made by a lady Aetheria in A.D. 394. Six tombs have been found hollowed from the natural rock beneath the mosaic-covered floor of the church. In the modern chapel presbytery, built to protect the site and provide worship space, remnants of mosaic floors from different periods can be seen. The earliest of these is a panel with a braided cross presently placed on the east end of the south wall.
The Moses Memorial that houses the Byzantine mosaics has been closed for renovation from 2007 to 2016. It reopened on 15 October 2016.

The painter 
Robert Hawker Dowling (1827- 886) was an Australian colonial artist. Dowling was born in England the youngest son of Rev. Henry Dowling and his wife Elizabeth, née Darke. He was brought to Launceston, Tasmania with his parents in 1839 in the Janet. He received lessons from Thomas Bock and Frederick Strange, and in 1850 advertised as a portrait painter. In 1856 Dowling left for London partly with the help of friends in Launceston. He exhibited 16 pictures at the Royal Academy between 1859 and 1882 and others at the British Institute. Returning to Launceston he afterwards came to Melbourne and painted portraits of Sir Henry Loch, Dr James Moorhouse, Francis Ormond, and others. He went to London again in 1886 but died shortly after his arrival.

Dowling was a conscientious painter of figure subjects, often scriptural or eastern. He is represented in the Melbourne and Launceston galleries.

On 2 May 2007, one of Dowling's paintings – Masters George, William and Miss Harriet Ware with the Aborigine Jamie Ware – was bought for A$823,500 by the National Gallery of Victoria. [1]

References

PEÑALARA PAINTED BY JOAQUIN SOROLLA

JOAQUIN SOROLLA Y BATISDA (1863-1923)

Peñalara (2,428 m -7,966 ft)  

Spain

 In Vista del Torneo, El Pardo y la Sierra de Guadarrama, 1907, oil on canvas, 

Museo Sorolla Madrid

The Mountain

In this painting one can see a panoramic of a part of El Pardo, in the first term and in the background, the Sierra de Guadarrama and its highest peak the Peñalara, half covered by snow.

El Pardo is located in the northern suburb of Madrid, close to the Manzanares river. Part of its area is covered by a forest named Monte de El Pardo (El Pardo Mountain). The ward contains a neighbourhood called Mingorrubio.  The ward was first mentioned in 1405 and in 1950 was an autonomous municipality of the Community of Madrid. One of the most notable buildings is the Royal Palace of El Pardo, built in 1406 by the order of King Henry III of Castile. It was the first large edifice built in the area.
The Peñalara (2,428 m -7,966 ft)  is the highest peak of the Sierra de Guadarrama,  a mountain range forming the main eastern section of the Sistema Central, the system of mountain ranges along the centre of the Iberian Peninsula.  The range runs southwest—northeast, extending from the province of Ávila in the southwest, through the Community of Madrid, to the province of Segovia in the northeast. The range measures approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) in length.  The mountain range's proximity to Madrid means it can get crowded with visitors. The range is crossed by numerous roads and railway routes. It has a highly developed tourism infrastructure, coupled with provisions for various mountain sports. This poses a threat to the fragile environment and habitats of the mountains.
The others peaks of the Sierra de Guadarama range are: Bola del Mundo (2,265 m, 7,431 ft),
Cabezas de Hierro (2,383 m, 7,818 ft), Dos Hermanas (2,285 m, 7,496 ft), Flecha (2,078 m, 6,807 ft), La Maliciosa (2,227 m, 7,306 ft), La Najarra (2,108 m, 6,916 ft), El Nevero (2,209 m, 7,227 ft),
Pandasco (2,238 m, 7,342 ft), Peña del Águila (2,010 m, 6,594 ft), La Peñota (1,945 m, 6,381 ft)
Risco de los Claveles (2,387 m, 7,831 ft), Risco de los Pájaros (2,334 m, 7,657 ft), Siete Picos (2,138 m, 7,014 ft), Montón de Trigo (2,161 m, 7,089 ft), Cerro de Valdemartín (2,280 m, 7,480 ft), Monte Abantos (1,753 m, 5,751 ft) and   El Yelmo (1,717 m, 5,633 ft).
The flora of the Sierra de Guadarrama is characterized in the higher elevation Atlantic vegetation region with Juniper groves, montane grasslands, Spanish broom thickets, pine forests, and Pyrenean Oaks forests; and in the lower elevation Mediterranean vegetation region by Holm oak forests. while the pastures around the summits are fringed by juniper and Spanish broom shrubs.

The painter 
Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida was a Spanish painter.  Sorolla excelled in the painting of portraits, landscapes, and monumental works of social and historical themes. His most typical works are characterized by a dexterous representation of the people and landscape under the sunlight of his native land.

Sorolla's influence on some other Spanish painters, such as Alberto Pla y Rubio and Julio Romero de Torres, was so noted that they are described as "sorollista."

After his death, Sorolla's widow, Clotilde Garcia del Castillo, left many of his paintings to the Spanish public. The paintings eventually formed the collection that is now known as the Museo Sorolla, which was the artist's house in Madrid. The museum opened in 1932.

Sorolla's work is represented in museums throughout Spain, Europe, America, and in many private collections in Europe and America. In 1933, J. Paul Getty purchased ten Impressionist beach scenes made by Sorolla, several of which are now housed in the J. Paul Getty Museum.

In 2007 many of his works were exhibited at the Petit Palais in Paris, alongside those of John Singer Sargent, a contemporary who painted in a similarly impressionist-influenced manner. In 2009, there was a special exhibition of his works at the Prado in Madrid, and in 2010, the exhibition visited the Oscar Niemeyer Museum in Curitiba, Brazil.

 - More about Joaquin Sorolla 

MONTAGNE SAINTE VICTOIRE BY MARSDEN HARTLEY

MARSDEN HARTLEY (1877-1943)

Montagne Sainte Victoire (1, 011 m - 3, 316ft)

France (Provence)

 1. In Montagne Sainte Victoire from Chateau Noir, pink mountain, 1927, oil on canvas,

 Private collection 

2.  In Montagne Sainte Victoire from Chateau Noir, red mountain, 1927, oil on canvas,

Private collection 

The mountain
Mont Sainte-Victoire (1, 011 m-3, 316ft)  also called Mont Venturi is a limestone massif in the South of France, in the region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Located east of Aix-en-Provence, it has experienced international fame, due to the more than 80 works  Paul Cézanne did  on it. It hosts many hikers, climbers and nature lovers, and is a major element of Aix landscape.
- More about Montagne Sainte Victoire 

The painter 
Marsden Hartley  was an American Modernist painter, poet, and essayist.
Hartley began his art training at the Cleveland Institute of Art after his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1892.  He won a scholarship to the Cleveland School of Art.
In 1898, at age 22, he moved to New York City to study painting at the New York School of Art under William Merritt Chase, and then attended the National Academy of Design. Hartley was a great admirer of Albert Pinkham Ryder and visited his studio in Greenwich Village as often as possible. His friendship with Ryder, in addition to the writings of Walt Whitman and American transcendentalists Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, inspired Hartley to view art as a spiritual quest.
Hartley first traveled to Europe in April 1912, and he became acquainted with Gertrude Stein's circle of Avant-garde writers and artists in Paris.  Stein, along with Hart Crane and Sherwood Anderson, encouraged Hartley to write as well as paint.
In 1913, Hartley moved to Berlin, where he continued to paint and befriended the painters Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc. He also collected Bavarian folk art.  His work during this period was a combination of abstraction and German Expressionism, fueled by his personal brand of mysticism.
In Berlin, Hartley developed a close relationship with a Prussian lieutenant, Karl von Freyburg. References to Freyburg were a recurring motif in Hartley's work, most notably in Portrait of a German Officer (1914). Freyburg's subsequent death during the war hit Hartley hard, and he afterward idealized their relationship. Many scholars believe Hartley to have been gay, and have interpreted his work regarding Freyburg as embodying his homosexual feelings for him.
Hartley finally returned to the U.S. in early 1916. He lived in Europe again from 1921 to 1930, when he moved back to the U.S. for good.  He painted throughout the country, in Massachusetts, New Mexico, California, and New York. He returned to Maine in 1937, after declaring that he wanted to become "the painter of Maine" and depict American life at a local level.  This aligned Hartley with the Regionalism movement, a group of artists active from the early- to-mid 20th century that attempted to represent a distinctly "American art." He continued to paint in Maine, primarily scenes around Lovell and the Corea coast, until his death in Ellsworth in 1943. His ashes were scattered on the Androscoggin River. Most of his mountains paintings of Maine are nowadays in the MET collections.

Marsden Hartley and the Montagne Sainte Victoire
(notice from Baltimore Museum of Art)
" The American artist Marsden Hartley greatly admired the work of Paul Cézanne. Even though Cézanne had died in 1906, Hartley traveled to southern France in 1925 to live in the countryside that Cézanne loved. When he first saw Mont Sainte-Victoire, he said, “I couldn’t believe my eyes for what I saw in the way of dignified beauty…”  He rented lodging on the same estate where Cézanne had had a studio, affording him the same view of the magnificent Mont Sainte-Victoire that had inspired Cézanne. Hartley thought of himself as a realist and intended to paint the mountain as most people would see it. But in the strong southern light, he found the mountain “full of hypnotic attraction” and began to express his feelings about the mountain through color. Marsden Hartley was captivated by the reddish color of the earth around Mont Sainte-Victoire, comparing it to the vivid colors of stained glass windows. He wrote, “Such color exists nowhere outside of the windows of Chartres & Sainte-Chapelle—the earth itself seems as if it were naturally incandescent & seems fired from underneath somehow—yet withal so restrained and dignified.”

ROTUI PAINTED BY JOHN LA FARGE

JOHN LA FARGE (1835-1910)

Rotui ( 899 m - 2,949 ft)
French Polynesia

In Uponohu, End of Cooks Bay, Island of Moorea, watercolor

The mountain
Mount Rotui  ( 899 m - 2,949 ft )is a  peak on the island of Moorea (French Polynesia), beetwen Ōpūnohu Bay and Cook Bay. Despite the low altitude of the peaks, the mountains of Moorea are among the most rugged in the world and every bit as rugged as the Himalayas. Unlike the Himalayas however, most peaks on this and the surrounding islands are considered impossible to climb and many still await first ascents. 
Rotui is the easiest summit to climb on Moorea, but still is a nice and exciting climb. It can be a bit risky while descending in the rain, but it is not as dangerous to climb as Mouaputa.
While Moorea and Tahiti are very popular with tourist, expect to have the mountains all to yourself.

The Painter 

John La Farge was an American painter, muralist, stained glass window maker, decorator, and writer.

born in New York City to wealthy French parents and was raised bilingually; as a child, he and his brothers produced a handmade magazine in French entitled Le Chinois.  His interest in art began during his studies at Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland and St. John's College (now Fordham University) in New York.  He initially intended to study law, but this changed after his first visit to Paris, France in 1856. Stimulated by the arts in the city, he studied with Thomas Couture and became acquainted with notable literary people. La Farge also studied with the painter William Morris Hunt in Newport, Rhode Island.

La Farge's earliest drawings and landscapes, from his studies in Newport, show marked originality, especially in the handling of color values. Many of La Farge's mythological and religious paintings, including Virgil, were executed in an area of Rhode Island known as "Paradise," in a forest which La Farge called "The Sacred Grove" after Virgil.

He was a pioneer in the study of Japanese art, the influence of which is seen in his work. During his life, La Farge maintained a studio at 51 West 10th Street in Greenwich Village, which now is part of the site of Eugene Lang College at the New School University.

Between 1859 and 1870, he illustrated Tennyson's Enoch Arden and Robert Browning's Men and Women.

In the 1870s, La Farge began to do murals, which became popular for public buildings as well as churches. His first mural was done in Trinity Church, Boston, in 1873. Then followed his decorations in the Church of the Ascension  and St. Paul's Chapel, New York.  For the Minnesota State Capitol at St. Paul, he executed at age 71 four great lunettes representing the history of law. He created a similar series based on the theme of Justice for the State Supreme Court building at Baltimore, Maryland. He also took private commission from wealthy patrons (e.g. Cornelius Vanderbilt) and was reputedly worth $150,000 at one point.

La Farge made extensive travels in Asia and the South Pacific, which inspired his painting. He visited Japan in 1886, and the South Seas in 1890 and 1891, in particular spending time and absorbing the culture of Tahiti. Henry Adams accompanied him on these trips as a travel companion. He visited Hawaii in September 1890, where he painted scenic spots on Oahu and traveled to the Island of Hawaii to paint an active volcano.

In 1892, La Farge was brought on as an instructor with the Metropolitan Museum of Art Schools to provide vocational training to students in New York City. He served as President of the National Society of Mural Painters from 1899 to 1904.

La Farge died at Butler Hospital, in Providence, Rhode Island in 1910. His papers, together with some of those of certain children and grandchildren, are held by Yale University Library.


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2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

LE CANIGOU BY GEORGE-DANIEL DE MONFREID

GEORGE-DANIEL DE MONFREID (1856–1929)

 Le Canigou (2,784m - 9,137 ft) 

 France (Occitanie) 

In Le Canigou en Hiver, 1921, watercolour, Musée du Petit Palais Paris  

The mountain 

Le Canigou (2,784m - 9,137 ft) is a mountain located in the Pyrenées-Orientales (southern France), south of Prades and north of Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste. Its summit is a quadripoint between the territories of Casteil, Taurinya, Valmanya and Vernet-les-Bains. Its location makes it visible from the plains of Roussillon and from Conflent in France, and as well from Empordà in Spain. Due to its sharp flanks and its dramatic location near the coast, until the 18th century the Canigou was believed to be the highest mountain in the Pyrenees.

Twice a year, in early February and at the end of October, with good weather, the Canigou can be seen at sunset from as far as Marseille, 250 km away, by refraction of light. This phenomenon was observed in 1808 by baron Franz Xaver von Zach from the Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica in Marseille. All year long, it can also be seen, with good weather, from Agde, Port-Camargue and the Montagne Noire.

The mountain has symbolical significance for Catalan people. On its summit stands a cross that is often decorated with the Catalan flag.  Every year on 23 June, the night before St. John's day (nuit de la Saint Jean), day of the summer solstice, there is a ceremony called Flama del Canigó (Canigou Flame), where a fire is lit at the mountaintop. People keep a vigil during the night and take torches lit on the fire in a spectacular torch relay to light bonfires elsewhere. Many bonfires are lit in this way all over the Pyrénées-Orientales, Catalonia, Valencian Community, and Balearic Islands theoretically.

The painter 

George-Daniel de Monfreid  was a French painter and art collector. Born at New York City, in the United States, he spent his childhood in the south of France. Early he decided on a career in art, and enrolled at the Académie Julian, and formed friendships with Paul Gauguin, Paul Verlaine and Aristide Maillol. Initially his work was Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist, but his close association Les Nabis group pushed his style in the direction of Gauguin.

He was also an art collector and a patron of the arts. Along with Gustave Fayet, he was one of the first collectors of the works of Gauguin at the time he was exiled in the Pacific. He was also one of the first biographers of Gauguin. He was also influenced by the cubism of Pablo Picasso late in his career.
 He wad the father of the  french writer Henry de Monfreid  (1879-1974).

2018 - Wandering Vertexes...
Un blog de Francis Rousseau

MOUNT TOHIVEA PAINTED BY JOHN LA FARGE

JOHN LA FARGE (1835-1910)

Mount Tohivea  (1,207 m- 3,960 ft)  

French Polynesia (Moorea)

In L'ile de Moorea, 1891, watercolour,

The Mountain 
Mount Tohivea also called Tohiea (1,207 m- 3,960 ft)  is a volcanic peak and the highest point on the island of Moorea in French Polynesia. On its slopes are many streams and fertile soils. There are hiking trails along the summit close to Belvedere Point where people can view Mont Routui and the two bays and three peninsulas of Moorea. Mount Tohivea is a dormant volcano easily visible from Papeete, the capital of French Polynesia. The surrounding peaks are almost as tall as Mount Tohivea.
Mount Tohivea is located at the center of Moorea. As seen from Tahiti, Mount Tohivea appears to be in the southern part of Moorea. The mountain is about 2 miles (3.2 km) from Pao Pao, 20 miles (32 km) from the town center of Papeete, 2,000 miles (3,200 km) south of Honolulu, Hawaii, 2,000 miles (3,200 km) east of Sydney, Australia, and 4,000 miles (6,400 km) southwest of Los Angeles, California. It is at about 20 degrees south of the equator and at the same longitude as Anchorage, Alaska.
The area was first settled by early Polynesians during the early 4th century. Then Charles Darwin explored the area. After many years the area became very populated. Then people made trails and then it become a park. Today, the park is a tourist attraction.
There about 5 miles (8.0 km) of dirt hiking trails along the Mount Tohivea's slopes. The trails are about 2 feet (0.61 m) wide. There are some points with views of Cook's Bay, Opunohu Bay, the Pacific Ocean, and Pao Pao, the largest commune of Moorea. The animals that people can see are mainly Geckos. The hiking trails end close to Mont Mouaroa which is only a couple of miles west of Mont Tohivea. People can also see Mont Mouaroa from both the main road and the two bays. People can mainly see Mont Mouaroa from Opuhunu bay.Some of the hiking trails go to the bottom of Moorea from the south point. One can also see Mont Tohivea from the south point and get on the trails from there.

The Painter 

John La Farge was an American painter, muralist, stained glass window maker, decorator, and writer.

born in New York City to wealthy French parents and was raised bilingually; as a child, he and his brothers produced a handmade magazine in French entitled Le Chinois.  His interest in art began during his studies at Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland and St. John's College (now Fordham University) in New York.  He initially intended to study law, but this changed after his first visit to Paris, France in 1856. Stimulated by the arts in the city, he studied with Thomas Couture and became acquainted with notable literary people. La Farge also studied with the painter William Morris Hunt in Newport, Rhode Island.

La Farge's earliest drawings and landscapes, from his studies in Newport, show marked originality, especially in the handling of color values. Many of La Farge's mythological and religious paintings, including Virgil, were executed in an area of Rhode Island known as "Paradise," in a forest which La Farge called "The Sacred Grove" after Virgil.

He was a pioneer in the study of Japanese art, the influence of which is seen in his work. During his life, La Farge maintained a studio at 51 West 10th Street in Greenwich Village, which now is part of the site of Eugene Lang College at the New School University.

Between 1859 and 1870, he illustrated Tennyson's Enoch Arden and Robert Browning's Men and Women.

In the 1870s, La Farge began to do murals, which became popular for public buildings as well as churches. His first mural was done in Trinity Church, Boston, in 1873. Then followed his decorations in the Church of the Ascension  and St. Paul's Chapel, New York.  For the Minnesota State Capitol at St. Paul, he executed at age 71 four great lunettes representing the history of law. He created a similar series based on the theme of Justice for the State Supreme Court building at Baltimore, Maryland. He also took private commission from wealthy patrons (e.g. Cornelius Vanderbilt) and was reputedly worth $150,000 at one point.

La Farge made extensive travels in Asia and the South Pacific, which inspired his painting. He visited Japan in 1886, and the South Seas in 1890 and 1891, in particular spending time and absorbing the culture of Tahiti. Henry Adams accompanied him on these trips as a travel companion. He visited Hawaii in September 1890, where he painted scenic spots on Oahu and traveled to the Island of Hawaii to paint an active volcano.

In 1892, La Farge was brought on as an instructor with the Metropolitan Museum of Art Schools to provide vocational training to students in New York City. He served as President of the National Society of Mural Painters from 1899 to 1904.

La Farge died at Butler Hospital, in Providence, Rhode Island in 1910. His papers, together with some of those of certain children and grandchildren, are held by Yale University Library.

DIADEM MOUNTAIN PAINTED BY JOHN LA FARGE

JOHN LA FARGE (1835-1910) 

Diadem Mountain (1,321m - 4,334 ft) or Te Hena o Mai’ao 

 French Polynesia (Tahiti)

In  Diadem Mountain at Sunset, 1891, oil on canvas, Brooklyn Museum, USA

The mountain 
Diadem Mountain (1,321m - 4,334 ft) or Te Hena o Mai’ao is a peak located in  Tahiti, clearly visible from the plain of Pirae. Its shape recalls that of a "Tiara", a jewel forming half a crown. Diadem mountain  inspired many a photographer and painter, as John Lafarge who painted it at sunset.

Tahitian name is Hena o Te Mai'ao. Te Hena, was the refuge of the warrior Tehana Tohua that the top of the mountain with a rounded top, would direct his troops and watched the pass Taonua Pirae. As soon as the canoes enemies with the shooters arrived on the  Aorai Tini Au beach, the warriors descended directly from the mountain gliding over the reeds (a'eho).

"A'eho mata mata te ura i ve to ihe ea" means" The house doors were made with this reed".

Tahiti is the highest and largest island in French Polynesia lying close to Moorea island. It is located 4,400 km (2,734 mi) south of Hawaii, 7,900 km (4,909 mi) from Chile and 5,700 km (3,542 mi) from Australia. The island is 45 km (28 mi) across at its widest point and covers an area of 1,045 km² (403 sq mi). The highest peak is Mont Orohena (Mou'a 'Orohena) (2,241 m (7,352 ft)). Mount Roonui, or Mount Ronui (Mou'a Rōnui) in the southeast rises to 1,332 m (4,370 ft). The island consists of two roughly round portions centred on volcanic mountains and connected by a short isthmus named after the small town of Taravao, situated there.

The northwestern portion is known as Tahiti Nui ("big Tahiti"), while the much smaller southeastern portion is known as Tahiti Iti ("small Tahiti") or Tai'arapū. Tahiti Nui is heavily populated along the coast, especially around the capital, Papeete.

The interior of Tahiti Nui is almost entirely uninhabited. Tahiti Iti has remained isolated, as its southeastern half (Te Pari) is accessible only to those travelling by boat or on foot. The rest of the island is encircled by a main road which cuts between the mountains and the sea.

A scenic and winding interior road climbs past dairy farms and citrus groves with panoramic views. Tahiti's landscape features lush rainforests and many streams, including the Papenoo River on the north side.

 The Painter 

John La Farge was an American painter, muralist, stained glass window maker, decorator, and writer.

born in New York City to wealthy French parents and was raised bilingually; as a child, he and his brothers produced a handmade magazine in French entitled Le Chinois.  His interest in art began during his studies at Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland and St. John's College (now Fordham University) in New York.  He initially intended to study law, but this changed after his first visit to Paris, France in 1856. Stimulated by the arts in the city, he studied with Thomas Couture and became acquainted with notable literary people. La Farge also studied with the painter William Morris Hunt in Newport, Rhode Island.

La Farge's earliest drawings and landscapes, from his studies in Newport, show marked originality, especially in the handling of color values. Many of La Farge's mythological and religious paintings, including Virgil, were executed in an area of Rhode Island known as "Paradise," in a forest which La Farge called "The Sacred Grove" after Virgil.

He was a pioneer in the study of Japanese art, the influence of which is seen in his work. During his life, La Farge maintained a studio at 51 West 10th Street in Greenwich Village, which now is part of the site of Eugene Lang College at the New School University.

Between 1859 and 1870, he illustrated Tennyson's Enoch Arden and Robert Browning's Men and Women.

In the 1870s, La Farge began to do murals, which became popular for public buildings as well as churches. His first mural was done in Trinity Church, Boston, in 1873. Then followed his decorations in the Church of the Ascension (the large altarpiece) and St. Paul's Chapel, New York. For the Minnesota State Capitol at St. Paul, he executed at age 71 four great lunettes representing the history of law. He created a similar series based on the theme of Justice for the State Supreme Court building at Baltimore, Maryland. He also took private commission from wealthy patrons (e.g. Cornelius Vanderbilt) and was reputedly worth $150,000 at one point.

La Farge made extensive travels in Asia and the South Pacific, which inspired his painting. He visited Japan in 1886, and the South Seas in 1890 and 1891, in particular spending time and absorbing the culture of Tahiti. Henry Adams accompanied him on these trips as a travel companion. He visited Hawaii in September 1890, where he painted scenic spots on Oahu and traveled to the Island of Hawaii to paint an active volcano.

In 1892, La Farge was brought on as an instructor with the Metropolitan Museum of Art Schools to provide vocational training to students in New York City. He served as President of the National Society of Mural Painters from 1899 to 1904.

La Farge died at Butler Hospital, in Providence, Rhode Island in 1910. The interment was at Green-Wood Cemetery, in Brooklyn, New York. His papers, together with some of those of certain children and grandchildren, are held by Yale University Library.