35. Orchard in Provence [1950's]

David Peretz was an artist of European stature, renowned for his rich and diverse body of work in the genres of landscape, portraiture, and especially still life. His painting is dense and at times impasto in texture, while his color palette is dynamic and vibrant. The landscape composition “Orchard in Provence” is highly characteristic of the artist’s oeuvre. His life journey led him from his native city of Plovdiv to Sofia, where he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts. During the 1930s and 1940s, David Peretz, Zlatyu Boyadzhiev, and Vasil Barakov traveled throughout the beautiful Rhodope Mountains, painting plein-air landscapes. They were humorously nicknamed “The Barracks” (“Baratsite”), a moniker that remains alive today when referring to these major Bulgarian artists. Through his numerous travels in the 1930s to the Netherlands and France, Peretz became closely acquainted with European artistic trends, which inspired him to experiment in various directions. In the mature phase of his career, he also worked in the field of abstract composition. In 1947, he departed for Israel, and later settled with his family in Paris, where he remained until the end of his life in 1982. David Peretz never severed his connection with his homeland or with his friends from “The Barracks.” He continued to exhibit his works both in France and in Bulgaria. The painting “Orchard in Provence” is emblematic of David Peretz’s artistic language. The composition depicts fruit trees and cultivated fields arranged in rows. Two trees symmetrically flank the foreground of the composition, while the middle ground is occupied by golden fields. The background closes the composition frontally with a horizontal line of oxide-green trees, at the center of which glows a small house painted in a characteristic coral hue, serving as both the chromatic and compositional focal point of the work. The bright emotional register is further enhanced by the resonant blue-turquoise tones of the sky. The terrain in the foreground is rendered dynamically and sketch-like. The oil paint is applied in elongated, ribbon-like brushstrokes, creating a distinctly Post-Impressionist character within the canvas. (S.N.)

References

Karanfilova. Suzana. Boyan Radev Collection. Bulgarian Painting. National Gallery. S. 2018. ISBN 978-954-9473-42-1

Dimensions

width 55 cm, height 46 cm, custom 46 × 55 cm

Description

oil on canvas, signed bottom right, in red, "Peretz"

Dating

1950's

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