Meditate with Henri Rivière (1864-1951)

In 1928, when Henri Rivière stayed there, the Mediterranean village was still called Bormes. It was not until forty years later, in tribute to a local species of acacias, that he will become Bormes-les-Mimosas.

During his stay, the Parisian painter was impressed by other trees: the olive trees, cultivated here by whole fields. Its view of the village huddles against the hill shows a generous nature full of light, which emerges from limestone rocks and sandy trails under a blue sky like the sea, nearby.

We are far from the primary passion of the painter for contrasts, at the time when he devoted himself to wood engraving, then to the art of the print, influenced by the masters of Japan. For ten years, he also participated in the shadow theater of a Parisian cabaret, the black cat. There, he excelled in the creative staging of poems and stories, thanks to the use of colored plates alongside the traditional zinc leaves where the characters are cut.

But the First World War will end this period of his life, as well as his practice of prints. The time had come for him the art of watercolor. His views of Bormes are part of it. The landscape is almost biblical: under the centenary olive trees of the Mediterranean, the powerful and the poor came to rest, meet, oppose.

Christ himself made the place of his withdrawal for his most fervent prayers. The Olives press is never far away, evoking the passion for all given life. For Henri Rivière, the test that will the terrace is the ultimate drama for any artist passionate about light: he will lose sight of at 60.