"I think that the work has a virtue of escape. Culture is what allows us to escape. And when one is in a moment where one is a little anguished, we will ask ourselves questions which are questions of eternity about existence, about the beauty of the world. It is good to have this element at home." (Interview with Olivier Masmonteil, CLUB INNOVATION & CULTURE FRANCE, 2021)

 

Olivier Masmonteil paints with a classical academic training, and does not hesitate to quote the history of painting with notably borrowings from Courbet at the beginning of his career or the more recent convocation of art nouveau motifs in transparency in some of his paintings.

A great traveler, he undertook the "Horizons" series as an exercise in landscape painting, traditional since the 6th century in China but which only became a noble and independent genre after the Renaissance, when rare artists made it the main subject of their work. "Landscape is my subject, my source of inspiration, but also my working tool," writes Masmonteil.

As a landscape painter, the artist inevitably finds a place as an observer, depending on the climate, the light and the time of day. The landscape of Shining through clouds is both dense and fantasized; it invites a focus in the distance, before nightfall. Perhaps dreaming of a better tomorrow?

The Caring Gallery is committed to donating 10% of the sale of this work to the partner association of the exhibition.

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