Landscape from the south of France 1911

Curator: This is Renoir's "Landscape from the south of France," painted in 1911. He used oil paint in the plein-air tradition, with some truly wonderful impasto work visible up close. Editor: It feels breezy and light, almost as if you can smell the pines and lavender just by looking at it. Though, truthfully, the brushstrokes feel somewhat hurried, feverish. Curator: Yes, towards the end of his life, Renoir was severely limited by arthritis, which noticeably changed his technique. Still, the structural rigor is quite apparent, wouldn't you agree? Note the deliberate layering, the interplay between foreground and background. Editor: Absolutely, the romantic tension builds from that skeletal tree in the foreground across to the cool, hazy mountains in the distance. It creates a feeling of expansive depth but… constrained? Maybe because of the thickness of the paint itself. The impasto seems to hold back the landscape, keep it grounded. Curator: Precisely. Think about Renoir’s engagement with color theory, with broken color—the touches of red and violet amid the greens. How they create vibrancy even within a subdued palette. Each stroke is not just descriptive; it's constructive, building the very form of the landscape. Editor: It almost reminds me of Van Gogh’s restlessness but without the internal anguish. There’s a sort of joyous energy even in its muted tones and blurry details, a life force bubbling just beneath the surface. Like the earth breathing softly under a warm sun. Curator: That resonates deeply with Renoir's approach to the later landscapes; seeing the inherent beauty in nature was indeed his trademark style. Even though, by this stage, his hands and feet had become completely crippled. Editor: Ultimately, it really does strike a delicate balance. A structured view of form versus the passionate impulse. Curator: I think that push-and-pull is what makes this Landscape from the south of France an undeniable treasure, encapsulating the essence of his vision. Editor: A brief window into a private reverie of place! It just makes me dream...