On September 27, 2022, the Rotary Club of Monaco hosted at the Méridien Beach Plaza Monte-Carlo a conference by Fabrice Roy on the theme of the "Riviera des Peintres" .
The notion of Riviera mocks human conventions and their borders. Côte d'Azur and Liguria have offered artists an incredible palette of colors for centuries, enhanced by this elusive light, the capture and rendering of which gave Claude Monet himself a cold sweat.
In this article, we have selected three works among those presented during the conference:
The 79 days of Claude Monet's stay in Bordighera – from January 19 to the beginning of April 1884 – coincide with the journey into a space and a time completely new for the man and the artist. They consist in his first approach to Mediterranean light and nature.
Monet admits: "(..) I made a lot of crap at the beginning, but now I got this magical land, and it is precisely this marvelous side that I want so much to give back. Obviously many people will shout at the unlikely or madness, but I do not care. They say this already when I paint our climate. When I came here, I had to bring back the striking side of nature ! "
Berthe Morisot stayed in Nice intermittently between 1881 and 1890, notably at the villa Ratti, in the Cimiez district, in 1888. In this painting, her daughter Julie is playing on the beach, from behind, as well as her nanny in the middle of empty chairs. The contrast is considerable between the great clarity of the atmosphere and the extent of the shadows cast. In the background the famous Promenade Pier destroyed in 1944.
Born in Ceriana in 1864, Giuseppe Fernandino Piana showed a strong aptitude for painting from an early age. Living in Bordighera, he always devoted particular attention to the colors of this village and neighboring localities.
More details and information on this conference by clicking on the link below:
In his art history lectures, Fabrice Roy combines the past with the present, in a poetic and playful evocation of the French 19th century...
