Julius Baltazar Beautiful Modern Painting, Abstract Landscape, Abstraction, 1991, Hst 20p

A beautiful “atmospheric” abstract landscape, typical of the artistic explorations of the 1980s and 1990s that focused on the threshold between figuration and abstraction.

The composition is structured into broad, overlapping horizontal bands: an upper violet/pink zone (twilight sky), a suggested horizon line, then a vast bluish-gray middle ground, and finally a denser, more “materialistic” lower zone.

This layering immediately conveys a sense of depth and distance, like a panoramic view taken from a promontory.

What constitutes a “landscape” here is not a descriptive motif, but rather clues: the horizon, patches of mist, the layering of planes, and the diffusion of light. The artist plays with perception: we think we recognize a nighttime plain, a coastline, or distant hills,

The surface alternates between two distinct registers:

A “misty” background rendered in glazes and veils (smooth gradients, gentle transitions), creating atmosphere, a sense of breathing, a feeling of distance, and a gestural intervention in the foreground: scratches, drips, fine splatters, calligraphic black lines, and localized impasto.

These marks energize the scene and introduce a graphic tension in line with the trends of the era (painting as a field of energy, where the gesture contradicts the serenity of the horizon).

We also notice scattered points of light (yellows, reds, electric blues) that function as urban “glimmers” or reflections, almost like beacons. This is a common technique in abstract landscape painting: a few colorful accents are enough to shift the image toward a nocturnal interpretation.

This work can be linked to the movement of lyrical abstraction and mental landscapes (1980s–1990s) and to artists in the Sino-European tradition (Chu Teh-Chun / Zao Wou-Ki) or the French tradition (Olivier Debré).

Julius Baltazar (born in 1949) is the artist name of the French painter, engraver, and lithographer Hervé Lambion, born in Paris on July 13, 1949.

Drawn to the arts from a very early age, he created works on paper as a child and, as a teenager, spent more time visiting the galleries of Saint-Germain-des-Prés than sitting in school. During this time, he met the Cuban painter Jorge Camacho, who encouraged him and gave him his first set of oil paints; he began exhibiting his work at the age of 16.

In 1967, he met Salvador Dalí, who gave him (or “christened” him) his pseudonym “Julius Baltazar.”

His work spans painting and printmaking (engraving, lithography), with a marked preference for abstraction and “interior”/atmospheric landscapes; he is also active in the field of artist’s books, collaborating with writers (e.g., Michel Butor), which regularly appears in specialized auctions and catalogs.

Finally, there are institutional and archival records of his work, notably in the form of deposits, donations, and library archives, attesting to a consistent and well-documented practice.

Oil on canvas in very good condition, in a gilded, molded wooden frame (small spots visible on the bottom of the frame)

Size 20P (painting only); total dimensions with frame: 91 x 72 cm. In perfect condition.