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YVES
THOMAS
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In his Visionary Seascapes, Yves Thomas (born 1937 in Saint-Pierre sur Dives and living in Paris) also evokes a world outside time - after the apocalypse and before the next creation. But now, the world is still awash with the flood waters of a new beginning. Typically, the ruins remain, but are immersed in swirling waves that cleanse as well as destroy.
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Meanwhile, in the heavens, a light appears, offering the possibility of a new creation, though this hope remains uncertain.
At home in both large and small formats, the artist can render a view that is grand, epic, and panoramic in one work, then switch to a more close-up and intimate view in another. He renders atmosphere, mist, and light in a manner unparalleled by living artists. "It is not the idea that is important, but the painting itself," (53) he explains. In his works, the swirling clouds, thunder, and waves express states of the soul which words cannot reach.
Having mastered the Seascape, Thomas has turned toward the telluric in his most recent canvases - investigating cliffs, chasms and canyons. These reflect, as accurately as possible, the actual stone formations of the Grand Canyon. "You have to respect the canyon as a living example of Nature," (54) he said, having just returned from an eye-opening journey through America's last 'valley of visions'.
But the artist's own sensitivity to composition, atmosphere and light are ever present. And, as a faint reminder of his earlier seascapes, a single stream may be seen running through these otherwise barren craggs and cliffs...
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ISLAND II
- Yves Thomas -
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THE CALM AND THE TUMULT
- Yves Thomas -
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