Winter in the Seaward Alps, St Jeannet

Unhappy with the deterioration of rural life in England, La Thangue spent long periods in Provence after 1901, establishing a studio at Bormes (now Bormes-les-Mimosas). From here he travelled to the hill villages or 'castelli' in the hinterland of Nice and Cannes. St Jeannet was a particular favourite, built on the slope leading to a precipitous coral crag which La Thangue's viewpoint omits. Like Bormes, this ancient village was renowned for its flower and fruit cultivation - particularly its fine local grapes (Guide to the Riviera from Hères to Viareggio, c. 1930, Ward Lock, p. 82). Edwardian botanists who frequented the area admired its rare flora (Comerfield Casey, Riviera Nature Notes, 1903, pp. 169-73) and for Captain Richardson, writing in 1927, St Jeannet was simply 'a centre of bucolic bliss' (Richardson, 1927, p. 82). Viewed from the west in Winter its houses are barely visible in the fading light. Overhead a fiery evening sky is glimpsed through a fan of leafless branches. La Thangue's work was 'alive and palpitating with light and air' according to The Academy critic, and 'his handling and mastery of colour is daring and exact above all, he is essentially honest in his work' (The Academy, 25 April 1914, p. 529).

Winter on the Seaward Alps, St Jeannet was one of a distinguished group of pictures in the collection of Moses Nightingale, La Thangue's most important patron. He also owned An Alpine Village, St Jeannet, (Private Collection), a daylight view painted closer to the village.
KMc.