Artnotes: Tumbling Along

 Sketch Luxembourg Gardens  Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/wood   7 x 13 inches

 Luxembourg with people   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/wood  6 x 13 inches

 Marche Raspail   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/wood  7 x 13 inches

 Queen in the Luxembourg Gardens   Blair Pessemier   Acrylic/panel  14.5 x 9.5 inches

 Fall Color in the Gardens   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/linen  11 x 16 inches  SOLD

Street in Auvers sur Oise   Blair Pessemier   Acrylic/linen  15 x 18 inches

Artnotes:  Along the water

A friend passed along an invitation this week for a show of the work of the late artist Albert Marquet.  Marquet is one of our favorite artists, so we hopped a train to Pontoise to the Musée Tavet-Delacour.   It took about an hour and a half for us to get to Pontoise by train – passing over the Seine, by Asnieres, Colombe, Argentueil, Eragny, and numerous other bergs.  It was interesting to see this route from St. Lazare station.

Our return destination was Gare de Nord, this route chosen on the basis of a cleaner, newer train, with giant windows.  It took a bit longer, but  the car was less crowded and we saw a more picturesque set of suburbs in the direction of Enghien-les-Bains and the racetrack there.

It was a small hike from the station to the show.  Pontoise has a substantial medieval center atop a fortified hill.  Pontoise is an extremely old city, part of the Roman road.   The museum was in a big stone structure surrounded by ruins and bits of ruins, repositioned.   Sculptures by Otto Freundlich, an early modernist, from Pontoise, occupied prominent positions.   Pontoise was an important part of the Impressionists’ movement along the Seine.   This is a marvelous museum has shown works by Matisse, Pisarro, Arp and countless others.

There were about 25 paintings by Marquet on view,  painted along the Seine between Paris and Normandy.   They were scenes we knew, although we hadn’t seen at least half of the Marquet paintings, many from private collections.   He was a master of painting in grey weather, adding just a bright spot here or there to spark the picture.   There was a terrific night scene of Samaritaine and the Pont Neuf.  His images of le Havre were surprising and great – le Havre took a real beating in World War II, so it’s difficult to think of it so beautiful.  One of the paintings he did was of the bassin at le Havre – a beautiful deep blue water scene.   So many of the pictures of water makes me want to go right out and paint.

Blair has been so inspired by the shows we’ve seen:   Water at Rouen, Braque, and now this Marquet show; we’re now  signed  up to be in the Contemporary Art Fair at Bastille, here in Paris.  We’ll be there in stand 615 from the 31 October until 4 November.

We’ve been hanging about the Seine ourselves, eating lunch and walking in the new area, formerly inhabited by cars, between the Musee d’Orsay and Eiffel Tower.    I am thinking new, larger, work as we seek a painting venue for the months of December, January and February.

This all has gotten me more enthused  about having a painting boat.  I am anticipating a 20 foot craft with a small motor(s)  and a cover in case of rain.  We’ll stay close to the banks of the Seine, and maybe the Oise.    We’ll use it for painting workshops, and keep it just outside the city.  I am thinking of creating an Indiegogo campaign to fund its purchase and subsequent rehabilitation.  I am seeking  advice from those with knowledge about boats in a river, boating in France,  and other related crazy ideas, so let me know what you think.