bathing under the Pont du Gard, canoes, dives, splashes, oil paintings on canvas

OLIVER BEVAN

Dive

Green Ring

oil on canvas 80 x 80 cm

oil on canvas 60 x 60 cm

Bathing at the Pont du Gard

oil on canvas 130 x 97 cm

Splash below the Bridge

oil on canvas 90 x 30 cm

Canoe and Splash

Pink Ring

Jump

oil on canvas 60 x 60 cm

oil on canvas 80 x 80 cm

oil on canvas 40 x 40 cm

Turning

oil on canvas 46 x 61 cm

Canoes beneath the Pont du Gard (diptych)

Climbing out

The moment of entry

Jump from the rock

oil on canvas 60 x 30 cm

oil on 2 canvases 50 x 50 cm

oil on canvas 50 x 40 cm

oil on canvas 100 x 81 cm

For a considerable time I had mulled over the idea of a set of canvases in homage to Georges Seurat, whose Baignade à Asnières, with all its studies and drawings, had so impressed me in London. Apart from his way of treating light and his masterly composition, I particularly liked his representation of the human figures. Last summer we adopted the Pont du Gard as the preferred watering place, and it was there that something clicked. Even so it took me six months to pluck up the courage to tackle water. Once launched, the project gained momentum and its own sens of direction. Watching with fascination the way my brush strokes turned into water, I forgot all about Seurat. This water was not dead like the water in photographs;.it was living like the flecked coat of a wild animal, calm or broken up according to the strength of the wind, the quality of light and the movements of the bathers. I am in thrall to a freer more dynamic way of painting.

Oliver Bevan 2006