Indian Summer

Philip Wilson Steer, Young Woman on the Beach, 1886. Musée d'Orsay Paris. A particular favourite of mine.

Down here in the Pyrenees we are experiencing an Indian summer, only the falling leaves and colder nights, give the game away that it is in fact autumn.

Hope your all having a fantastic Sunday.

XXX

A Summers Day Out

One of the lovely things about having friends and family visiting in the Summer months are the memorable days out, visiting familiar and undiscovered places, you see things with fresh eyes and it makes you appreciate your near and far surroundings all the more.

On Saturday we set off for the lovely historical market town of Albi in The Tarn department it's about 50 miles north east of Toulouse in the Languedoc Roussillon region. Like it's larger neighbour Toulouse 'La Ville Rose' most of the buildings are hewn from red brick.  We ambled round the lovely windy, cobbled streets, browsed in fabulous shops, looked up in awe at the imposing Cathedral fortified and built from red brick, inside, every inch of it is painted, it is beautiful.  After a rather fine lunch washed down with local Gaillac wine we strolled along the banks of the River Tarn, with temperatures reaching the upper thirties, we made a lot of cafe stops for long, cold drinks.

The River Tarn

I was rather taken by this shrub, growing by the banks of the Tarn, Belle Mere told me it's a type of Grenadine, (Pomegranate), if I can find one, it will be in my garden next year.

Albi is the birthplace of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, the largest collection of his works are housed in the Musee Toulouse-Lautrec in the heart of Albi, the museum was founded in 1922 by a lifelong friend and the paintings were gifted by his family.

Desire Dihau Reading a Newspaper in the Garden, 1890

Never one to miss an opportunity to go round an art gallery, the cool, air-conditioned, museum was a welcome escape from the searing heat outside.  Toulouse-Lautrec has never been one of my favourite artists but I did enjoy looking at his works and I now have a greater understanding and appreciation of his works and of the man behind the paintings.  Poor Henri, he was born into a wealthy aristocratic family descended from the counts of Toulouse, his parents were first cousins and as a result of interbreeding Henri suffered from many congenital health disorders, as a child he fractured his right and then left leg, the bones never healed, his torso developed normally but his legs stopped growing, his adult height was 5ft 1. With long periods of convalescence he immersed himself in his art, showing promise and talent he was encouraged by his parents who knew his destiny and future career would be in the art world.

Toilette, 1896

Henri went to Paris and was drawn to Montmarte, he is most famous for his lithographs for the Moulin Rouge and depictions of life in the decadent, seedy underbelly of Paris. I feel he was most comfortable painting prostitutes in the salons and the brothels, the prostitutes of the day rarely left the brothels and he seemed to have an affinity with them, painting them going about there daily business.  Henri was often mocked for his short stature and he consoled himself with alcohol, his favourite tipple was a mixture of Absinthe and Cognac served in a wine goblet and nicknamed 'Earthquake'. Sadly alcohol got the better of him and he spent periods of time in health sanatoriums and institutions.  One of the most poignant items in the museum for me was his walking stick, which he used every day, inside the cane was a secret compartment containing long thin bottles and a glass, this way he could have alcohol on him at all times, he died from complications of alcoholism and syphilis at the family estate in Malrome, he was 36.

Typical Albi Mansion

I did not get a chance to go into this shop...next time!

We left Albi and headed for the beautiful hilltop village of Cordes-Sur-Ciel, we took the D roads and drove through stunning countryside, passing pretty villages and narrow roads flanked by sun drenched Gaillac vineyards.

Cordes-Sur-Ciel

Beautiful Architecture

Views from Cordes of the Summer Countryside

This pigeon was most obliging posing for the camera

Love this stone carving, of a man (possibly the original owner of this medieval building) crawling out.

“In Cordes, everything is beautiful, even regret” Albert Camus.

Crusoe has sneaked onto this photograph, he is recovering beautifully.

Crusoe relaxing on very old flagstones, he looks suspiciously demure, but we know he has just polished off the remnants of a child's ice cream cone! 

With all the entertaining and messing about in the French countryside, I have barely turned my laptop on, hoping to catch up with you all soon.
XXX

Jean Gabriel Domergue

Jean Gabriel Domergue another of my favourite painters and one that put the 'Oh La La' (I have yet to hear a French person utter that phrase!) into his work.  You can see all sorts of influences in his art; Degas, Toulouse Lautrec and Giovanni Boldini who he studied under.  Never the less he developed his own unique style.

After a bit of trawling about I have managed to find a biography for him from the Pierre and Edouard-Pierre de Souzy Gallery in Paris...

Jean-Gabriel Domergue was born in Bordeaux, France on March 4th, 1889.

An extremely talented and precocious painter, Domergue exhibited works at the Salon Des Artistes Français (the French Artists Exhibition) in 1906 at the young age of seventeen. In 1913, he was awarded the Second Prize of Rome and went on to win the gold medal award in the 1920 show. He then began showing outside the exhibition.

Having first been recognized for his landscapes which he painted with great ease, his career took a decisive turn during the 1920's. At this time he became the painter of the "Parisian lady".

Domergue invented a new type of woman : thin, airy, elegant, with a swanlike neck and wide seductive eyes which gaze upon the world with longing.

"I invented the pin-up" he later claimed.

He went on to paint approximately 3,000 portraits.

Even though Domergue painted numerous nudes using fashionable actresses or young dancers as his models, he was nevertheless, highly prized in the aristocratic and high society circles painting individuals such as Liane de Pougy or Nadine, the future Baroness of Rothschild.

Domergue was also one the main organizers for famous Parisian gala events such as « The Venetian Ball » at the Opera in 1922 and other events using the Second Empire as its theme in Paris and also Cannes, Monte-Carlo, Juan-les-Pins, Biarritz and of course, Deauville.

Quite influential, he played an essential role in the evolution of fashion in his era.

He designed numerous dresses, hats and accessories for famous couturier such as Paul Poiret and Henry Marque.

Even though 1920 remains the turning point in Domergue's career towards feminine portrayals, his style developed all throughout his artistic career.

His quasi-definitive form appeared at the beginning of the 1930's.

From this time on Domergue was at the peak of his career; his paintings were no longer dated even though often titled on the back (oil canvasses or hardboards) and sometimes numbered.


Having knowledge of this perfected style and trend allows the trained eye to accurately date his works of art.

Domergue had a talent for highlighting the fickle and dazzling side of a beautiful woman that one likes to imagine.

His elegant mastery of the paintbrush places him in the tradition of artists such as Fragonnard and Watteau who in the 18th century helped establish the canons of beauty of their epoch.

His classical training combined with an aura of fantasy make Domergue's portraits unlike any others.

Domergue changed the way women were portrayed, breaking the traditional melancholic and vapourish poses.

The female figure became airy, sparkling and effervescent like Champagne bubbles laying the ground in his own way for the feminine revolution which began in the next decades. No one can remain unaffected when gazing upon such gaiety and sensitivity portrayed by the subtle style of his stroke.

One side of Jean-Gabriel Domergue's life is not as well-known ; he was Curator of the Jacquemart-André Museum in Paris starting from 1955.

Under his leadership, extraordinary exhibitions were organized. Most notably were his tributes to Léonard de Vinci, Seurat, Prud'Hon, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, Berthe Morisot and Francisco Goya. Furthermore, it was during his organization for the exhibit in honour of his own master, Giovanni Boldini, that he passed away in 1962.

 

 Domergue was made Knight of the Legion of Honour and Fellow of the Academy of Fine Arts.

Illustrations for winter evening wear 1936

There is a Museum in his former home; Villa Domergue, Cannes, France. formerly Villa Fiesole, built in 1934  Domergue was influenced by the Italian style and designed the villa and it's decoration down to every last detail, his wife, Odette Maudrange-Domergue who was a sculptress designed the beautiful gardens.  In 1973 Odette bequeathed the estate to the city of Cannes.