Painting Exhibition at Château Roubine
Regards Sur la Végétation du Midi painting exhibition at Château Roubine
Located right in the middle of Provence, between Lorgues and Draguignan, Château Roubine is one of the oldest wine estates of France producing famous Clu Classé Côtes de Provence wines. During the tenth edition of "Art & Wine", from June 15 to September 15, 2012, this prestigious Château owned by Valérie Rousselle is hosting "Regards sur la végétation du Midi" (Vegetation of the South of France at a Glance) a painting exhibition by american artist Mary Louise Gallaway Degonde. Her painting, precise and detailed, is on the mineral and vegetable world, so close to the world of wine.
Mary Louise was born in Houston, Texas in 1942. Accustomed to moving about with her family because of her father's work, she left Texas for New York in 1960 where she studied painting at the Brooklyn Museum Art School - now part of Pratt Institut, then Chinese language, culture and calligraphy at Columbia University. In 1969 she left New York for Kyoto, Japan where she apprenticed in clay work with Masatsugu Hitomi for three years. Arriving in Paris in 1971, she taught drawing and clay modeling for a non profit-making cultural organisation in Suresnes. The classes grew in number and in 1998 the entity became the Ecole Municipale d'Art Plastiques - the Suresnes Municipal Fine Arts School.
Mary Louise's artwork takes the form of drawing, painting and work in volume using clay, bronze or glass. She has done several large public commissions, including a "table d'orientation" in bronze in the Parc de Féchéray in Suresnes, commissioned by the Conseil Général des Hauts-de-Seine and a entrance door in bronze, brass and glass for the CyberEspace located in a public building, commmissioned by the City of Suresnes. Her work figures in private collections in Japan, the United States, Israel and France. Her work in porcelain can be found in the collection of contemporary art at Sèvres, Cité de la Céramique and she was awarded the Suzanne et George Ramié prize at the Biennale de Vallauris in 1987. Her smallest pieces are portable sculptures some of which can be found at the boutique of the Hotel Byblos in Saint Tropez.
From June 15 to September 15, 24 of her paintings and drawings can be viewed at the Château Roubine in Lorgues. For the theme of this exhibition she chose the vegetation of the Midi of France, drawing and painting her vision of umbrella pines, lavender fields, olive groves, mimosa, wisteria and of course, of vineyards. The sun-drenched colors of her paintings reflect her love of the vegetation of the South sought along her trajectory from the Gulf of Mexico to the Mediterranean Basin.
