1891 -1910 · Mediterranean Neo-Impressionism

In Saint-Clair, Cross releases the touch divided into mosaics of saturated colors which make the Mediterranean garden a luminous paradise.

Henri-Edmond Cross settled in 1891 on the Côte d'Azur, then permanently in Saint-Clair near Saint-Tropez. The Mediterranean landscape becomes the heart of his work. After rigorous divisionist practice, he gradually broadens his touches and intensifies the color. Pines, shores, gardens and figures are built in separate blocks of pink, purple, blue and green, the harmony of which the eye realizes. His own semi-tropical garden provides numerous patterns in oil and watercolor; Paul Signac and young artists like Matisse, Derain or Marquet frequent this place. His own semi-tropical garden provides numerous patterns in oil and watercolor; Paul Signac and young artists like Matisse, Derain or Marquet frequent this place. His own semi-tropical garden provides numerous patterns in oil and watercolor; Paul Signac and young artists like Matisse, Derain or Marquet frequent this place. Vegetation is not described leaf by leaf: it becomes an architecture of rhythms, crossing warm light. This decorative freedom announces Fauvism while retaining the ideal of harmony of neo-impressionism. The "Gardens and Flowers by Henri-Edmond Cross" selection notably compares Afternoon in the Garden and Pines along the Shore. His reading favors figures.

Cross transforms the Saint-Clair garden into a solar mosaic, where color builds both light and space.