From January 24 to September 6, 2015, the Musée Regards de Provence presents the exhibition "Lights of the South." The South is never written the same way, depending on the emphasis placed on lighting, its effects, and the shadows that redefine the landscape or isolate characters in a scene of daily life. The season, the weather, the sky—whether clear, hazy, or cloud-filled—the sun at its zenith or declining, the method of illuminating a site, all constitute components of the beauty of a landscape or atmosphere.
Through three centuries of painting, the multiple lights of the South and the enthusiasm for this generous nature, its fragrances, the sea, the ports, the shores, the coves, and the bays have generated a vibrant pictorial hub, full of sensitivity and deeply rooted in heritage. This natural and eternal lighting calls for shadow, the shimmer of colors, and enhances contrasts.
The Musée Regards de Provence brings together artists from the 19th and 20th centuries, natives of Provence or those who came to draw their inspiration from the Lights of the South. Since the mid-19th century, the South has represented a destination of the times. Marseille, the Bouches-du-Rhône, the Var, Vaucluse, and the French Riviera, with their landscapes, emblematic villages, and scenes of local life, are places and atmospheres that fascinate with their uniqueness, their lights, colors, and the joy, friendliness, and accents of the inhabitants who bring them to life.
The enthusiasm for nature has generated a thriving pictorial hub, deeply rooted in heritage and often marked by great poetic sensitivity.
Among the artists gathered, such as Camoin, Cauvin, Chabaud, Crémieux, Courdouan, Friesz, Guigou, Grésy, Loubon, Lhote, Seyssaud, Verdilhan, and many others, some prioritize emotion and instinct, painting numerous landscapes, bright and luminous, directly from nature. Others focus more on the balance of their composition, refinement, and tranquility. They depict a splendid and peaceful South where nothing disrupts the serenity.
In contrast, others display strong colorist qualities in their seascapes, with effects of waves and light, using thick paint and vibrant colors. This vision of the South is exalted by this generation of modern artists, between Fauvism and personal exploration, seeking renewal. Bold, in their choice of pure tones, the synthesis, and the gathering of forms into concentrated masses.