Maison Niçoise
Maison Niçoise is another work that comes from the printmaking phase of my early years as an artist. I was 18 years old when I created this monoprint – a technique whereby one paints with printing ink on a printing plate, and then “prints” the painting by running it through a press. The result is a rather painterly effect, with brushstrokes transformed into a sort of scratchy texture. I finished the piece with regular lead pencil as well as colored pencil, possibly some watercolor wash – I can’t remember.
This followed my first trip to Europe, where I had planned to study art at the Academy Julian in Paris. I never enrolled there (one of my greatest regrets), but I did visit nearly all the museums in Paris, and then traveled to the south and spent a few weeks in Nice. The French are the great preservers of history, and I was enthralled by the architecture, so grand and ornate, along the seaside Promenade des Anglais! I was particularly intrigued by windows and doors, and did a number of studies of places I passed on foot. This house, with its stone relief carving over the window, was one example.
The great French artist Henri Matisse lived in Nice for 27 years, from 1917 to his death in 1954. The Mediterranean light, suffused with color, had a profound effect on his work. Did he walk past this very house, I wondered? Did the loose and fluid figures carved above the window influence his bold strides in depicting people as simplified shapes in space? I wanted my art to be raw and expressive like his, but this could not be contrived – it had to emerge naturally. Letting go while also maintaining control was the name of the game. How did he strike this uncanny effect with such ease? My teenage mind brooded over such questions as I stood in front of his paintings. Walking the cobblestoned streets, I felt a richness of history and culture in France that simply doesn’t exist here in the U.S. That an ordinary person could live in a house with such a window as this one seemed incredible!
I long to get back to these sources of inspiration and drink from that well again. Soon enough. In the meantime, writing this post has rekindled my desire to do studies of windows and doors – an inexhaustible subject. Perhaps my French neighbors, with their lovely flowering window boxes, will allow me to do some studies of their house in the spring.
A good week to all!
D. Yael Bernhard
https://dyaelbernhard.com
Have you seen my other Substack, The Art of Health? In addition to being a visual artist, I’m also a certified integrative health & nutrition coach with a lifelong passion for natural food cooking and herbal medicine. Now in its second year, this illustrated newsletter explores cutting-edge concepts of nutrition. I strive to make relevant information clear and accessible, and to anchor essential health concepts in unique images. Check it out, and if you like it, please subscribe and help spread the word. Your support keeps my work going!