Girieud's work includes
landscapes of Brittany and the river Seine banks but he soon gave up those subjects as he
did not really feel in harmony with the surroundings. He was a man from
the Mediterranean countryside a land of contrats, arid and bathed in sunlight.
He depicted
Italy, in paintings representing Sienna's indigo skythe dome and the cloister
in San Giminiano as well as the village line of trees and houses standing out against
a very pale sky, (Vauxelles in Le Gil Blas).
He was impressed by the austerity and solemn beauty of
Spain. The contrast between greens and brownish reds stresses the aridity of its soil
Twenty-eight Greek landscapes, emphasise the majestic temples with sobriety and force, or insist on the fragility
of sun-stroked ruins.;
But, above all, Pierre Girieud highly praises
Provence (1), which inspired him 260 landscapes between 1922 and 1934.
Girieud's landscapes are real subjects. They are luxuriant and full of colours.
His skies are of a soft, deep and rich substance. He suggest light with very simple
nuances. Pierre Girieud depicts nature as if through the eyes of Sienna primitive
painters and so evokes delicacy and harmony. The atmosphere is in turn full of
tenderness, reverence, and emotion.
In
Le Gil Blas 1914, Carco comments Pierre Girieud's landscapes as follows :
they are the best expression of his talent.
.
Mouret in 1924 writes: " without ceasing to be the solid and strong builder that we know and that worries
especially the search for character, density of shapes and volumes, not in their fleeting appearance
but in what constitutes their eternal essence, he perceives, he feels, is able to translate deeper, more complex truths ..... Each landscape
grows out of the frame, goes beyond the frame ". (Pierre Girieud paysagiste)
(2)
(1) What is your favourite landscape?
