French Impressionist Oil Painting of a Mediterranean Mountain Landscape in Provence, Signed David

Sun-drenched French oil on canvas of a Mediterranean hillside, signed lower left "David." A great ochre mountain rises against a pale summer sky, its slopes streaked with green scrub, while below it a grove of gnarled, silvery-green trees shades a sandy lane and a cluster of white farmhouses with terracotta roofs. The paint is laid on thickly with knife and brush, so the foliage and rock stand up from the canvas in sculptural ridges that catch the light. Presented in a heavy French gilt frame in the Louis XV manner, with deeply molded scrolling ornament and a cream painted liner. Price includes shipping!

Dry hills, olive-like trees and red-tiled farmhouses are the classic motifs of Provence and the Mediterranean south, the country that drew painters from Cézanne onward. The signature is an initial joined to the name DAVID; we have not been able to match it to a recorded artist, which is common for the many accomplished regional painters working in the south of France in the mid 20th century. The bold impasto and simplified, sunlit forms suggest a date around the 1940s or 1950s.

A warm, sunny presence for a dining room, kitchen or entry, and especially handsome beside Provençal furniture. From Provence, France!

KEY FEATURES

• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Style: Thick impasto with simplified, sunlit forms
• Subject: Mediterranean mountain landscape with trees and red-roofed farmhouses
• Signature: Signed lower left with an initial and "DAVID"
• Frame: Ornate French gilt frame in the Louis XV style with a cream painted liner

DETAILS

• Country: France
• Condition: Very Good
• Year: Midcentury
• Dimensions: H 20.5" x W 26" x D 2"