Pauline Bétrancourt
Pauline is a French artist who lives and works in Aix-en-Provence. She has been a practicing artist for the past 20 years, she obtained her MFA in 2009 from l’Ecole Supérieure d’Art d’Aix-en-Provence.
Her practice of painting and drawing was profoundly enriched by a group of artists from The Leo Marchutz School of Painting and Drawing in Aix-en-Provence.
She works on the motif, directly from nature with oil paints and pastels, charcoal and graphite.
In her process, she is moved by what she sees and pursues to render it with spontaneity. She chooses to render a vision in which elements create a dramatic unity, coming together as in a chorus. It all seems to hum in a poignant harmony, something uncanny, which can only be distilled over time through looking.
Under a particular light emerge tableaux: the growth of a sapling reaching toward the light, the enduringness of a mountain, or dawn chasing away the night.
Within the fusion of color, shadow and light, is created the patterns and the movement of the original view and its mystery. The rendered forces then become everlasting beings, quietly giving us hope in learning how to live.
Selected works
“I stop. A configuration becomes a motif. I am moved and urged to render it because it will never happen again. The bathing light gives the tone to a dramatic unity. Vision precedes words and as I work, drawing or painting, my attempt is to pursue with accuracy and spontaneity what I saw arising. My strokes are percussive and they create a beating world.”
Coucher de soleil sur Saint-Mandrier, 2023, oil pastel on Fabriano, 13-2/3 x 19-5/8 inches
Coucher de soleil sur Saint-Mandrier, 2023, oil pastel on Fabriano, 13-2/3 x 19-5/8 inches
Arbre, Plateau de Bibémus, Aix-en-Provence, 2022, oil painting on canvas, 20 x 24 inches
Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur, Aix-en-Provence, 2023, oil painting on canvas, 20 x 24 inches
Montagne Sainte-Victoire depuis le Plateau de Bibémus, Aix-en-Provence, 2023, oil painting on canvas, 18 x 24 inches
Arbre à la tombée de la nuit à Giverny, 2020, oil painting on canvas, 11 x 14 inches
Ensemble d’arbres, Annecy, 2021, charcoal on Arches paper, 24 x 30 inches
Arbre au couchant, Giverny, 2020, oil pastel on paper, 24 x 18 inches
Ensemble d’arbres, Annecy, 2021, charcoal on Arches paper, 24 x 30 inches
Arbre la nuit, Giverny, 2020, oil painting on unstreched canvas, 11-1/4 x 14 inches
Feuilles mortes et nymphéas, 2020, charcoal on Arches paper, 20 x 24 inches
Feuilles mortes et nymphéas, Giverny, 2020, oil pastel on paper, 18 x 24 inches
Matin, colline, Giverny, 2020, oil painting on unstreched canvas, 11-1/4 x 14 inches
Automne à Giverny, 2020, oil painting on unstretched canvas, 11-1/4 x 14 inches
Coucher de soleil sur le Roc de Chère, lac d’Annecy, 2022, oil painting on canvas, 20 x 24 inches
Brume sur le lac d’Annecy, 2023, oil on canvas, 13 x 16 inches
Coucher de Soleil sur la Salute, Venise, 2023, oil painting on Arches paper, 22 x 30 inches
Lever de soleil sur San Giorgio Maggiore, Venise, 2023, oil painting on Arches paper, 22 x 30 inches
Campanile, San Marco, 2019, charcoal on Arches paper, fusain sur papier arche, 20 X 24 inches
Coucher de soleil depuis le parc delle Rimembanze, Venise, 2022, oil painting on canvas, 20 x 24 inches
Coucher de soleil depuis la Giudecca, Venise, 2022, oil painting on Arches paper, 22 x 30 inches
Lever de soleil sur San Giorgio Maggiore, Venise, 2023, oil painting on Arches paper, 22 x 30 inches
Coucher de soleil depuis la Giudecca, Venise, 2023, oil painting on Arches paper, 22 x 30 inches
Vue de Venise, 2019, charcoal on paper, 20 x 24 inches
Lever de soleil sur San Giorgio Maggiore, de mémoire, Venise, 2023, oil painting on canvas 20 x 24 inches
Santa Maria della Salute, 2019, charcoal on Arches paper, 24 x 30 inches
Lever de soleil sur San Giorgio Maggiore, Venise, 2022, oil painting on canvas, 20 x 24 inches
Lever de soleil sur San Giorgio Maggiore, Venise, 2022, oil painting on canvas, 20 x 24 inches
Vue de Venise, 2019, charcoal on paper, 20 x 24 inches
Lever de soleil sur San Giorgio Maggiore, Venise, 2023, oil on canvas paper mounted on cardboard, 11.3 x 15.7 inches
San Giorgio Maggiore de nuit, Venise, 2023 Oil on canvas paper, 11.3 x 15.7 inches
All images property of the artist.