L’arbe de Vence France

I was curious to see what might have become of Soutine’s L’arbe de Vence, an oil painting he made in 1929. It’s one of my favourite Soutine paintings. It was only when I saw it at the exhibition Soutine|Kossoff recently at Hastings Contemporary that I wondered how the actual tree was faring these days.

“According to legend, this ash tree was planted in 1538 on the orders of Francis I of France, to thank the citizens of Vence for hosting his delegation during negotiations for the Treaty of Nice with Charles V of Spain. A tourist attraction in Soutine's day as now, the venerable ash has … a strikingly individual character. As with his portraits of this period, he shows us an immediately recognizable likeness, the branches dark against vivid blue. Painterly experiment is mostly confined to the trunk of the tree, across which we see a play of blue, yellow and red, while the circular bench below is a lustrous Soutine green.” Notes from Hastings Contemporary wall panel at the exhibition Soutine|Kossoff. The painting comes from a private collection.

Looks like it’s doing very well. The bench has gone though.

Photo on left courtesy of ©️Google 2023

Hampstead heath commission

Hampstead Heath and I go back to the late 80’s. I’d often go there for a blast of air after the clutter, noise and confinement of Camden Town, where I lived in those days. The Heath is great for views, for swims, walks or picnics. Lots of things happen there.

Over the years I’ve walked, drawn and painted Hampstead Heath many times. A favourite view is of the entrance to the Heath from South End Green. Standing across the road from the train station looking over to the avenue of trees invitingly sweeping you in is a view I love and I’ve worked with quite a few times. I once did an enormous blue winter version of the trees and that is now in a Swiss collection.

I have just completed and delivered a private commission of this very view that measures 34” x 48”.

If you are interested in discussing a commission of a particular place please contact me via the email link in the ‘Contact’ page of this site.