| Mr. Pierre Girieud. after long searching for himself - he has walked, formerly, from the symbolism of Gauguin to the realism of the Sienese primitives - has found, by dint of a patient work, his perfect fulfillment. Here he is - his beautiful exhibition attests sovereignly - in possession of all his resources, master of a solid form, harmonious and robust, composing his easel paintings with the same care measured as his large decorative panels, loving cadence, in true classic. I have already noted here the correspondences which make brothers of choice some writers and some visual artists. Between Mr. Girieud and many of our lyrics today, I feel real links. This painter is a poet. Do not especially hear that his art is literary. Mr. Girieud uses a skillful craft, with fluffy pasta, and even his work has become stronger, fatter, more pulpy. But this art is nourished by culture, ancient and modern. Before approaching his canvas, our painter has long rethought Theocritus, Virgil, Ovid, Chenier, but his inspiration is never bookish. These Danaes, her Daphne, these Dianes are buxom young girls, of a noble style, certainly, but not of vague generality, and very individually realized, alive; these models undoubtedly have souls, but also and first of all bodies; and the Apollons, Narcissi, heroes, demi-gods, and ephemeral Syrinx players are ragged athletes, very fleshy and muscular. As well, M. Girieud, while stylizing these models, is very close to nature; of human nature, and of nature in short. His characters move, talk, dance or rest in Arcadian sites, a serene eurhythmic; hills with soft inflections, red rocks, lakes of azure moire, black pines; this decoration is very much desired, and the figures are inscribed in studied arabesques; but it is clear that M. Girieud may be, at his pleasure, a remarkable landscape painter, knowing how to relate with force and simplicity his native Provence, whose skies, sky, and structure he has observed. And here is the secret of this simple beauty which captivates us and moves us in the artist's compositions: it is made of observation, of deep penetration of beings, which it amplifies, and it reaches the style without pretending, because that it is supported by the love of reality. |