By Pierre Neveu
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Provence Lavender Fields Rolling Hills and Cypress Trees French Landscape Watercolor
Artist: Pierre Neveu (French b.1929)
Medium: Watercolour on artist paper, unframed
Size (H x W): 6 x 8.5 inches
Inscribed lower right (location note, likely vent provence / vent provençal)
Condition: Good overall, with light handling marks and minor natural toning consistent with age.
Provenance: From the artist’s studio sale in France; all works by this artist in our collection originate from the artist’s estate.
Description: This luminous landscape watercolor by French Post-Impressionist painter Pierre Neveu captures the distinctive rolling farmland and lavender fields of Provence, a region whose dramatic light and rhythmic terrain have inspired generations of artists. Neveu’s handwritten inscription at the lower edge—most likely referencing Vent Provençal or a similar location notation—reinforces the strong connection to the Southern French landscape. His expressive use of colour and confident draughtsmanship bring movement and immediacy to this sweeping rural view.
The composition opens with wide bands of lavender and tilled earth in the foreground, painted in atmospheric strokes of violet, ochre, and cool blue-grey. These textured rows lead the viewer’s eye toward rising hills dotted with cypress trees, olive groves, and clustered farm buildings—hallmarks of the Provençal countryside. In the distance, a hazy blue horizon suggests either the Mediterranean coastline or the far-off ridges of the Luberon or Alpilles.
Neveu’s characteristic combination of loose, fluid washes and precise, architectural linework reveals his training at the École Boulle and the École des Beaux-Arts. His handling of light is especially notable here: warm golden sunlight sweeps across the hillside, while cooler shadows create contrast and depth within the lavender rows. The work feels both spontaneous and carefully structured, capturing a moment of wind, warmth, and movement in the southern landscape.
This is an ideal piece for collectors of French landscapes, Provençal scenes, lavender field paintings...
Category
Mid-20th Century Post-Impressionist Pierre Neveu Art
