Colette Marchant lives and works in Saint Jeannet in southern France, and has exhibited in Paris, Villeneuve-sur-Lot and St Paul de Vence. Her work has now made it to Malta and is being exhibited at Opus 64 Galerie.
I stumbled upon Marchant’s paintings and was immediately taken in. What strikes you most is their simplicity, and this has a magical appeal.
Executed by hand, using her fingertips, these large canvases mostly consist of hazy landscapes, with sfumato being the key technique.
Marchant’s use of her own bare hands provides a sense of immediacy between her, the medium and the canvas. It is similar to the feeling one gets when lying down in a field amid grass and flowers or when one experiences the underwater world. There is an intimate relationship between creator and creation.
Her paintings have a mysterious, or should I say mystic, element. The world Marchant depicts absorbs you into a realm of fancy, an atmospheric fairyland.
In the midst of this magical vagueness, small figures do occasionally appear. However small, they are a significant element that gives more energy to the composition. L’homme et l’enfant is one eloquent example.
In the foreground of La Plage, the human presence is complemented by a sailing ship in rough seas in the distant background. A ferryman at sea (or are they two?) are present in Le Passeur. The uncertainty adds to the mystery element.
The peopled scenes, if I may call them that, are the more successful paintings.
Colour is at its best in Blue lagoon. This picture encompasses greenery in the foreground, sea in the middle ground, and an idyllic sunset in the background. All is depicted with the same sfumato that hallmarks Marchant’s work.
In all of these works, paint is not thickly layered onto the canvas. On the contrary, it is rather smooth and thinly applied. Impasto is used when human figures are present, or when other features, such as ships or the leaves or flowers on a tree, such as in Printemps bruneux, or the temple of Agrigento, are required to stand out from the mist.
The paintings are generally romantic, as are their titles, and often refer to dusk and dawn. Nonetheless, this type of painting can help you really get lost within the composition, and this is aided by the large size of the canvas.
Looking at these works instils one with an air of calm. Naturally, there are pictures that cast a greater spell on you than others, but this is only natural and depends on your mood and temperament.
Composition and colour are of utmost importance in the successful production of a painting. Whether simple or intricate, symmetrical or asymmetrical, if the choice of composition is good, then it is simply good. The same goes for the choice of colours. And the same goes for all art in general.
In a recent conversation with fellow art enthusiasts, it was concluded that, despite what your prejudices of an exhibition or artist are, it is only when you actually view the works that you can really make a judgement.
This is because what you generally ‘like’ or what your mind tells you is good, may be met with surprises. The more exhibitions and works of art you see, the more you come to realise that “when it [art] is good, it is simply good”. There’s no two ways about it.
You are often also confronted with the famous argument that “it’s a matter of taste”. True, but not necessarily so. Taste has to be cultivated, and there is good taste, as well as there is bad and vulgar taste. One has to admit that there is a lot of kitsch around us which is the result of bad taste. Therefore, the argument of taste does not always hold water. No?
Colette Marchant’s paintings are available for viewing at Opus 64 Galerie, Tigné Street, Sliema, and will be exhibited in one of the gallery’s exhibitions rooms for the next two weeks.