Etienne Robert (1875–1959), Landscape With Haystacks

There is a striking contrast between these haystacks, which are bathed in direct light, with creamy whites and pale yellows, and this blue-gray, slightly hazy sky, which accentuates and sets the atmosphere of heavy, misty summer heat, evoking a harvest day in Provence.
The work is presented in a simple gilded frame, measuring 45 cm by 52 cm, with the canvas itself measuring 27cm by 35 cm.
Itdepicts a freshly harvested field with stacks of stubble in fullsunlight; in the background, a wayside shrine and an olive grove; and in the distance, on thefoothills, a village.
The long, sharp cast shadows clearly define the space and suggestlow-angled light typical of late afternoon or early morning.  
 In the tradition of Provençal landscapes painted en plein air in the late 19th centurie—with echoes of Monet in the depiction of the haystacks—it embodies atempered Impressionism that remains attentive to light and mindful of the structure of forms; a southern version characterized by the warmth of the tones and the presence of cypress and olive trees.
A simple and sincere work that accurately captures the golden light of a harvested field in Provence.

Etienne Robert was Swiss, born in Le Locle in the canton of Neuchâtel on March 25, 1875, and died in Marseille at the end of July 1959, at the age of 84.
He was the youngest of a large family; his father owned a small farm and worked from home in watchmaking.
Etienne received training in drawing, painting, and calligraphy.
Probably on the advice of a friend, he moved to Marseille, which at the time had a large Swiss community.
He worked as a calligrapher in a company on the Canebière and practiced painting en plein air with other painter friends. Gradually, he made painting his main activity.
He lived with his wife, who was from Marseille, in a small house at the top of Boulevard Vauban, where he had set up his studio.
Etienne Robert painted mainly Provence With a small cabin at the foot of the Garlaban mountain, he explored the surrounding countryside in search of subjects.
He would make a sketch on site, then return to his studio to complete the final paintings.
He also painted Italy, Corsica, and a little of Switzerland, which he found, however, too green: "Switzerland," he said, "is a big bowl of spinach."
In 1922, he married Elisabeth Goldsmid, of Swiss origin (her family had been in Marseille for two generations), who bore him three children: Alice in 1924, Marie-Jeanne in 1927, and Charles in 1928.
From 1920 until the eve of the war, he exhibited every year, alternately in Marseille and Switzerland, where he had a clientele.
Etienne painted until the age of 84, leaving behind a significant body of work, almost exclusively devoted to landscapes.