A woman lying on the sand gazes at the horizon; behind her, a man in a red hat
HorizontalesHorizontals1997 · Oil on canvas · 130 × 97 cmGalerie Thibault Holscher, Paris

VIII

Painting from memory

In a letter to the gallerist Jean-Marie Cupillard, Jean Marc Lange explains that he never paints from life or from notes, but only from memory.

His painting draws on memories of his Italian years: a country he discovered at twenty, coming from Normandy by way of Paris, and to which he often returns. The themes follow one another: the beaches of Ostia, Roman terraces, enclosed gardens, then gardens by the sea.

Painting, he writes, is a pleasure one imposes on oneself: an ambition, and a struggle against oneself.