The Making of "The Bohemian Palace"
Inspiration, Process, Views from the Atelier
The Series
Thoughts from the Atelier
In this series, I am trying to convey the feeling of the South of France. My bohemian palace is a stone house where textures are old and the interiors and outdoors are blurred. The light and colors are vivid, it could be the golden hour slipping through an opened door. I call it the palace as it seems to be the utmost luxurious life in my opinion. I remember the south of France as I grew up there but I didn't want to limit my paintings to match reality, so I painted swans and peacocks as the first reminds me of a northern royalty and the second, of a southern royalty. As I am both danish and french, I feel like these two animals represent these two sides in a way.
There is nothing new in this palace, the patterns are traditional and a mix from everywhere, a bit like Lisbon. The fountain reminds me of a Moroccan riad, the girl looks a bit like my sister Josephine. The reading woman on the couch reminds me of Toulouse Lautrec, she's definitely a southern woman, maybe Spanish, she's a bit wild and passionate, her loose manly blouse and red couch took me there I think. It's funny how the characters show themselves while painting them, it can't be totally controlled or it'd take away a lot of joy from painting. The girl/woman (I don't really know), with her swans, reminds me of my favourite Klimt painting. It's a painting of a powerful girl in pastel colours.
It was discovering Pierre Lesieur that really inspired me to paint this series, his way of painting textures, the mood of his paintings immediately made me think of the perfumery "Fragonard" in Saint Paul de Vence, Matisse, Bonnard and even some frescoes from the Middle Age with his treatment of perspective. I find it very refreshing and unique. It was like discovering a familiar candy with a kick.
References
Pierre Lesieur (french painter), Matisse
Cy Twombly's home in Rome
Books: Voyage en mediterannée by Christine Peltre, Cabana Anthology, Les Orientalistes by Christine Peltre, Coffret La Peinture Italienne and Coffret La Peinture Française Edition Ménès
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