“I would like to paint happiness”– wrote the painter Cross who settled in the Var (South of France), stunned by the gorgeous light in the deserted sandy beaches, before the age of tourism. Henri-Edmond Cross felt he had discovered Eden, an antique Arcadia far from the Industrialization he left behind. Maurice Denis, the colorist beyond compare, said “To his pale eyes, being born in the North, the entire South of France shimmered with light.”
By chance I discovered this artist, showcased now in a special show at Giverny revealing several “neo-impressionists.” He was friends with Matisse and numerous others who visited him. Cross was born Delacroix, but changed his name to avoid confusion with his great predecessor. He died young at 53 in 1910 after years of poor health, closing his brief parenthesis of joy, just before the Great War. Shown here is ‘La plage de Bagne-cul’ (Chicago)
