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HAUT-DE-CAGNES
PERIOD
1933 - 1934
By the early summer
of 1933, after considerable discussions with Isabella, Skov decided the
time had come to follow his desire to devote himself to artistic painting.
Since his return to Denmark from Munich a year earlier, he had reviewed his options and
he now felt sure that this was the direction he wanted to go. Isabella
supported him enthusiastically in this decision, and her willingness to
share the all too well known economic uncertainties of an artist’s life as
his dedicated companion, was probably the most important factor in Skov’s
decision. In addition it was fortunate that their two fledging commercial
ventures had become sufficiently successful, so that by mid year Skov was
able to sell both the painting contracting shop and Isabella’s gymnastic
studio. At about the same time an additional economic support became
available from two modest inheritances, and by the late summer of
nineteen-thirtythree Skov was able to determine that it had become feasible
to dedicate himself to artistic work, at least for a period of a few years.
As a first step,
Skov wanted to return to Southern
France where he three
years earlier had painted his first series of successful landscapes and
also had first felt the companionship of other accomplished artists. He
enjoyed the stronger sunlight in that region and had felt inspired by the
many painters, past and present, from Cezanne to Lundstroem, that had lived
and worked in this area.
Skov and Isabella
left Copenhagen in September to first visit the art galleries,
museums and art exhibitions in Paris, and after about a month there they continued on
to Haut-de-Cagnes, a small town located in the Alpes Maritimes south of
Vence, about an hours walk from the Mediterranean Sea. Here Skov rented a small house just outside the
town and almost immediately began to paint.
Skov’s paintings
from this period are mostly landscapes which he invariably executed on
location in the field. His approach to painting was in general
Impressionist, similar to his earlier work from Provence in 1930-1931, but the intervening three years
are quite discernable in the more controlled, mature way he developed his
harmonic compositions and more homogeneous color interpretations of the
French landscape. In some ways his work continues to be reminiscent of
Cezanne in a majority of his paintings, including the patchy, impressionist
brush work and, more importantly, the particular painterly integration of
objects and space into the rendition of the landscape.
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