Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1920 (plate 6). Seen from a relatively near and slightly elevated perspec-
tive that narrows the scope of the scene, this painting also reduces the
overt presence of 'culture' to a bare minimum in the form of two build-
ings scarcely visible beyond the wall of vertical trees, painted again in
varied strokes and colours, which closes the composition and compacts
the space. The diagonal swath of the river is a constant, but it is ren-
dered highly complex here by the counter diagonal lines of the shad-
ows cast by the trees, which form a structural grid matching that of the
diagonal forms of protruding land and snow on the left bank.
Pierre Landry provides a fitting conclusion to our discussion of
this painting and of Suzor-Coté's particularly Canadian brand of
Impressionism:
En avril, le chaud soleil printanier commence à faire fondre la neige. Ici
l'eau de la petite rivière monte et macule de vert la glace qui la recouvre
encore. Un remous menace d'en percer la surface de sa masse sombre. Des
ombres légères s'étirent et viennent zébrer la surface gelée de leurs traînées
bleutées. Sur les berges, la lumière chaude colore la neige de roses et de
jaunes, la terre et la végétation séchée percent les blancs rosés de leurs tons
mauves et ocres. Suzor-Coté applique la couleur sans la mélanger, en empâ-
tements épais qu'il superpose tout en laissant paraître les couches sous-
jacentes. D'une palette limitée, il tire ainsi de chatoyants effets de lumière,
une lumière qu'il fait vibrer comme seuls les impressionnistes ont su le
faire. Suzor-Coté est l'homme de sa génération, moderne et nostalgique. Il
embrasse les innovations d'artistes qui, avant lui, ont ouvert de nouvelles
voies, il vit au rythme trépidant d'une société qui se modernise en même
temps qu'elle déplore la disparition de ses vieilles coutumes. [96; In April,
the hot spring sun begins to melt the snow. Here the water in the small river
rises and stains the ice still covering it in green. An eddy threatens to pierce
the surface of the dark mass. Light shadows stretch out and streak the fro-
zen surface with bluish lines. On the banks, the warm light colours the
snow in pinks and yellows, the land and dried out vegetation pierce the
pinkish whites with their mauve and ochre tones. Suzor-Coté applies his
colours without mixing them in thick impasto that he superimposes while
allowing the under layers to remain visible. With a limited palette, he thus
obtains shimmering effects of light that he can cause to vibrate as only the
Impressionists could. Suzor-Coté is a man of his generation, modern and
nostalgic. He embraces the innovations of artists, who, before him, opened
new paths; he feels the pulsating rhythm of a society becoming modern at
the same time it deplores the disappearance of its old customs.]
 
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