Page 74 - cn - fg -fragments and traces -studio draft 2024

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Abbaye St Andre was a Benedictine and Royal Abbey. The abbey was founded in the 10 century and was
situated within the impressive walls of the Fort St.Andre, which overlooks the Rhone River and the ‘City
of the Popes’.

The Palace of the Abbey was reshaped by Pierre Mignard, architect of King Louis XIV, and reflects the
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magnificence and elegance of the 17 and 18 Century.
This relaxing scene of a woman reading sets the narrative of intent of her engaging with the inner world of
the book. The back- drop of the Abbaye gardens creates a visual space to explore, its quietude being a
contrast, balancing the focused view of the woman.
The afternoon summer light encapsulates the Sud France ambience and accentuates the figure and nearby
statue; whose gaze is towards the woman, thereby creating dynamism to the scene.
The garden is a visual interplay of animated life and stillness of the architecture and sculpted symbolic
form of the statue; the past is present in the moment.

FG 138419

Afternoon, Abbaye St Andre,

Vileneuve-les-Avignon, Sud France.
Oil on canvas 32 1/8 x 48 1/16 inches