Artwork of French painter Annie BODIN
In life and work, we often say that all is in the details. However, it is not always true in art. For many artists, they work and train day in and day out to be able to filter out the unnecessary details in their work. By doing so, they could focus more on the essentials: their emotions to convey. But as you can imagine, this is not always easy to do and the result can also be visually confusing from time to time.
Upon checking this painting, I see a little village next to the sea on the upper part of the canvas. The sky above is divided into two different color schemes. The left part over the port is warm and yellow. The right part over the residential area is cold and blue. This contrast makes me feel that the sun is setting at the very moment. Quite below the village, there’s a ship, navigating towards shore.
Between the ship and the village, there’s the sea, the moving waves, golden reflections and even some sailing boats. For a moment I seem seeing the determination of the sailors on the ship. They want to pull in and go home before the sun completely sets. I see people walking in the village, going home or waiting for the ship. I could even smell the sea and feel the cold wind pushing my face. But when the moment passes, the scenery disappears quietly. I see again blocks of beautiful colors on the canvas.
The charm of this work lies in the choices of Annie. She did not force us to see or not to see anything in particular. At the end of the day, all that we see is no more than a subjective interpretation of our conscious. Thus, an artist does not need to force a vision onto viewers. On the other hand, if we could appreciate a work like this with an open mind, we could quite possibly go through its abstraction and see our own dreamland inside.
