Exhibition: In the garden with André Hambourg

From the geometric paths of Parisian parks to the flower-filled orchards of the Pays d'Auge, and the bright lights of Provence, the garden is a discreet thread running through André Hambourg's work. For the artist, it becomes a place of intimacy, contemplation and creation.

In his early years in Paris, Hambourg already drew inspiration from the capital’s green havens. He regularly painted the Luxembourg Gardens. But it was above all the gardens of his residences that held a special place in his painting. In Provence, at Mougins and then Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, he captured the vibration of the light, the dance of the foliage under the mistral wind, the late afternoons when the shadows lengthen on the ground. The colours are vivid, almost dazzling, reflecting a generous nature that the painter captures with tenderness and sensuality. Finally, it was the gardens of Normandy that made a lasting impression on his work, particularly the garden at his house in Englesqueville-en-Auge. It became the setting for his patient observation of the passage of time. Hambourg set up his easel there as the seasons changed, painting apple trees weighed down with snow or laden with flowers, domestic scenes, like his goats grazing on the fat grass. In soft, almost pastel shades, the Norman garden becomes a silent chronicle of everyday life, imbued with poetry.

In this exhibition, visitors are invited to explore the “gardens of André Hambourg”, not as mere decorative motifs, but as fragments of a personal geography in which the artist reveals his sensitive relationship with the world, with light, and with the passage of time.

Curated by Annie Madet-Vache, director of the Musée des Franciscaines.