The Belfry Of Aix-en-provence Town Hall, Circa 1930

Charming framed gouache, representing the belfry of the Aix-en-Provence Town Hall, and part of the square which surrounds it, under a summer sky. This late Gothic monument is erected on the arch of the gate which separated the Count's town from the Episcopal town in the Middle Ages. The place is very empty, which is no longer conceivable today. However, we must understand that in the 1930s, Aix was very small (no more than 25,000 inhabitants) and that the people of Provence escaped the heat in the summer months, by keeping cool, for the most modest in the shed, for the old aristocrat in his country house. We could go up the Cours Mirabeau in August, at siesta time, without seeing a soul. The artist's work is very elegant, he masters the effects of light, and the contrast of the bright blue of the sky, and the softness of the old ochres of the facades. He did not sign, but undoubtedly belongs to the Provençal school, where the Ducros and the Rallaisouon excelled, and where a taste for gouache and watercolor had developed. Presented in a late 19th century frame.