PROVENANCE:
Philharmonic Center for the Arts, Naples
Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, Vancouver
Private collection, Asia

EXHIBITED:
Bernard Cathelin: Impressions from Les Rebattières , Philharmonic Center for the Arts, Naples, Feb. 9-Apr. 2, 1999
Bernard Cathelin: Impressions from Les Rebattières , Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, Vancouver, May 13-June 10, 1999

ILLUSTRATED:
Bernard Cathelin: Impressions from Les Rebattières , Philharmonic Center for the Arts, Naples, 1999, color illustrated
Bernard Cathelin: Impressions from Les Rebattières , Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, Vancouver, 1998, color illustrated

Bernard Cathelin was born in 1919 in Paris. In 1945, he was enrolled in the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, and was at the same time a student in the studio of French painting master Maurice Brianchon. Cathelin adopted the strong, vivid colors of the Fauvist school and employed brilliantly contrasting tones in his own unique style. The bold brush strokes of “Bougainvilliea et begonia à la Table Rouge” exhibit the artist's usual palette of strong colors. The image is divided into two halves by the red tablecloth on the bottom and the pink wall on top, creating a harmonious sense of space; however, this balanced contrast is broken by two vases of flowers, livening up the artwork in an instant. The bougainvillea flowers in the vase grow in abundance and are full of life. The bright colors brought out by the wall behind them are especially dazzling. A vase of begonias is placed at the side, creating a point of convergence that extends the image outwards in an orderly fashion. With regards to its colors, the begonias bloom happily, their fervency almost melting into the red table. At a glance, one may think that the colors are rather monotonous, consisting only of pinks and reds, but a closer look will reveal that the pink of the two fiery flower arrangements fade from light to dark with a sense of depth thanks to the artist’s meticulous brushwork. There is a method in the madness behind the brilliant petals as well as the reds and magentas accompanying them. The cool colors of the vase s finalize the focal point of the artwork. Through the artist's careful arrangement, the artwork makes its viewers skip between the assortment of colors, which are bright but elegant, evoking a thick air ofnostalgia and romance.