Description

What I like

What I like in this painting by Philippe Roman is its intense poetry: the summoned landscape emerges without us being able to recognize it, it is a mental universe: the distribution of the sands, blue and white creates in the center a large central area in mandorla: the work of the material is extremely fine: little material, rare impasto, scratches enliven the space… I like the fact that our canvas is archetypal of an axis of Roman’s work, sides of his landscapes decorated with architecture, which let the mind wander less in the space created by the artist, in my opinion.

I also like the fact that this painter, still little recognized, was praised by Jean Clair, a great transmitter of intelligence in art, a great critic and organizer of memorable exhibitions, highlighting painters with beyond pure abstraction. Because art is not univocal and the part of intelligence and dreams is essential!

Technical description

Philippe ROMAN (1927-1999)

Landscape-Composition

Oil on linen signed upper right.

Framing a simple wooden stick with patinated gilding.

Bibliography: Philippe Roman, painter of the New Subjectivity, by Odile Bombarde, Gourcuff Gradenigo editions:

Familiar with Balthus, friend of Sam Szafran and Pierre Jean-Jouve, Philippe Roman (1927-1999) developed for more than thirty years a tight body of work – no more than 122 paintings – far removed from the din of the avant-gardes. Singular and secret, his painting is nourished by the observation of the landscape: mountains dominated by schist or granite between the Rhine and Italy – white chalk cliffs of the Caux region. It is a meticulous observation of light and the accidents of relief at the antipodes of the rational analysis of forms and abstraction. Philippe Roman is a landscape painter who, like Balthus, Hödler or Giacometti, sees painting as a slow spiritual ascent. Very little known to the general public but revered by his friends, his work is finally the subject of an exhaustive publication.

Dimensions and weight

Height: 45 cm – Width: 60 cm – Depth: 2 cm

Weight:1 kg

Mix & Match

This work by Philippe Morvan is a work of art full of finesse: you have to look at it carefully, get lost in its composition to appreciate it: it will give all the more pleasure as it has room to flourish: in fact, I do not think that it benefits from a juxtaposition with works of geometric abstraction: on the other hand, it will coexist quite well with Dutch works of the 17th century, particularly the monochrome landscapes of van Goyen ! And even portraits from the 18th century!

This landscape can benefit from its proximity to our sandstone mobile from the 1970s, whose gold and brown range will recall the sands of Morvan.

Oddly enough, Enrique Broglia’s “Composition metallica” tapestry also has browns, sands and these brass inclusions that would work very well in the same room as our Morvan painting. What can we say about Pierre Szekely’s horsehide tapestry: what a beautiful exchange!

The warmth of exotic wood will also work wonders: I am of course thinking of this beautiful mahogany “Oeils” sideboard by Joseph André Motte for Les Hûchers, from the 50s/60s, and the blonde palette of the Thonet game table from the 1950s. … But also to the projected bronze with the fire and gold patina of the legs of Adrian Pearsall’s armchairs from the 1950s, or to the smoked plexiglass of the armchairs published by Apelbaum in the same years!

Obviously, the blue tone of our painting by Philippe Roman calls for the presence of our pair of G10 armchairs by Pierre Guariche, covered in this duck blue wool!!