Michel Henry [The Bay of Saint-Tropez] Oil painting, size 30F [framed]

2007 work

This is a painting commissioned by the artist Michel Henry for our company (Galerie Adeka). 

Michel Henry is a painter who mainly paints flowers, and together with Buffet and Brasilier, he is one of the leading painters in the 20th century French art world. His paintings give off a sense of happiness, so he is called the painter of happiness in France, and the king of poppies in America, because he paints many poppies. His transparent colors are likened to jewels. Red is said to be the color of ruby, blue is the color of sawaire, green is the color of emerald, and deep brown is the color of topaz. Michel Henry's paintings are collected by the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, the Swedish royal family, the Principality of Monaco, the Saudi Arabian royal family, and others. Galerie Adeka has been the sole distributor of Michel Henry in Japan since 1995, planning Michel Henry exhibitions in famous department stores and galleries throughout Japan, producing original prints signed by the artist himself, selling painting prints, and managing copyrights.

Work Description

The clock tower stands on a hill near the port of Saint-Tropez, a luxury resort town on the Cote d'Azur in southern France, known for being the home of the former French actress Brigitte Bardot. A mimosa is arranged in a crystal vase in the foreground right. A yellow lemon of the same color as the mimosa is placed in the lower left to create a stable composition. The dull winter sky is dyed pale pink with the clouds at dusk, but it is a far cry from the sparkling sky and sea of ​​midsummer. It is the yellow mimosa flowers blooming here and there that give color to the winter of the Cote d'Azur. The yellow of the mimosa and lemons gives a vivid impression. A few dozen kilometers west of Saint-Tropez is Cannes, famous for its film festival, and Cannes also has a clock tower on a hill near the port. When I see this painting, I ask myself whether it is Saint-Tropez or Cannes, but the Cannes clock tower is gray and lonely, while the Saint-Tropez clock tower is gorgeous with its two-tone brown and yellow color. The bustling summer Saint-Tropez is nice, but the out-of-season Saint-Tropez surrounded by mimosas is full of tranquility and peace.

Gallery Adeka Yasuhiro Takeda