Portraits of Bastia, Corsica

Landscape painting - including that of cityscapes and seascapes - contributes a valuable testimony to the history and geography of a place. If carried out meticulously and faithfully in relation to the original viewing, a painting captures and immortalises a scene as photographical evidence - without a camera in sight. This is when a painting becomes an intimate affair and its landscape a portrait. Those paintings relay valuable information to historians, ethnologists, city planners and to anyone interested in their locale.

'Vue du Port de Bastia en 1928', oil on canvas by Marc Bardon (1928)

My quest for period paintings depicting the Corsican seaside city of Bastia has taken me on a delightful journey! You could rightfully describe it as a labour of love. Unsurprisingly, the sea is captured by every artist whose oeuvre I am curating hereby. The sea is at the epicentre of the island city's historical, political and socio-economical structure. The maritime theme is strong and hardy and brings to each painting a unique colour representation!

*Put into context of the time period* Fish abounds and the sea feeds and builds the coastal communities. Voyage out of and to the island involves the vast expanse of water that surrounds it. Trade sails into and out of the island too. Let us not forget that danger lurks out from the sea (storms, epidemics, wars, invasions). The sea is a messenger, bearer of glad tidings and toller of bad news. The sea transports us.

'Corse, Bastia, le Vieux Port', oil on canvas by Marc Bardon (1939)

It brings a spectrum of mental states and emotions in tune with the aches and pains of our soul: solace, providence, daydream, hope, wish, desire, escapism, synchronicity, loneliness and desperation. It gets us to intensely scrutinise the horizon, seeking to pierce the secret of what lies beyond in order to satisfy the eternal life quest of curiosity. Ultimately the sea washes our bodies and absolves us of our sins. Ultimately the sea wreaks havoc and swallows into its watery grave lives, ship wreckages, antique towns and secrets aplenty. And when the calm finally settles over the climatic vicissitudes, the sea takes on a hue of contentment; it glitters in the golden sun, twinkles, bedazzles, spellbounds and bewitches us all over again.

I like to see the sea as a character all to itself: a whimsical, misunderstood friend or foe, according to its moods. It is ever-changing: undulates and scintillates, ebbs and flows, gently sways and then build up a crescendo, swelling up with the wind, then throwing itself at the shore in anger or desperation. It plays with the reflection of the sky always, composing as its mirror a captivating tableau that marries transience and a more permanent state of mind.

'Une Vue du Vieux Port de Bastia', oil on board by Hector Filippi

'Vieux Port de Bastia', oil on canvas by Léon-Charles Canniccioni (c.1927-30)

'Bastia, le Vieux Port et l'Eglise', oil on board by Rémy E. Landeau

'Vue du Vieux Port de Bastia', oil on canvas by Frédéric Bourgeois de Mercey (1839)

'Le Vieux Port de Bastia', oil on canvas by Léon-Charles Canniccioni

'Vue de Bastia, Côté Sud', watercolour by Jean-Jérôme Levie

'The Bombardment of Bastia, 6 November 1745', oil on canvas by Samuel Scott

'Vue de Bastia depuis Toga', oil on canvas by Louis-Auguste Lapito (1844), pict source

'Vue de Bastia depuis les Hauteurs du Cap Corse', oil on cardboard by Lucien Peri

'Bastia, Citadelle', acrylic and oil on canvas by François de Casabianca (2017)

Le Vieux Port de Bastia, as it stands today (c.2016), pictured from Hôtel des Gouverneurs

P.S: If you enjoyed the paintings of Bastia, you should view the postcards.

Basket Case

Wicker, Seagrass, Sweet Grass, Bamboo, Sisal, Rattan, Raffia, Jute, Palm, Cork & Co. - any fibre and material that is golden blonde and organic lends itself beautifully to Summer, bringing a sunny coastal note while mellowing a home or dress code. Without further ado, check out Mirabelle's capsule selection for self and the home!

Pandora Gold Metallic Flecked Cork Covered Wedges by Jimmy Choo

Swarovski Crystal Embroidered Satin Adriana Espadrilles, by Oscar de la Renta

Large Natural Heart Raffia Zip Pouch in Lilac, by Aerin Lauder

Pom Pom Beach Bag in Ocean, by Mar Y Sol, via The Little Market

Coastal Inspiration by Maisons du Monde

White Island Tendances Déco, via Maisons du Monde

Mandala Woven Bamboo Box, via Maisons du Monde

Light Taupe Dancer Trivet, by All Across Africa

Oscar de la Renta Home Collection (pict source)

Coastal Inspiration by Maisons du Monde

Small Hope Bowl and other baskets by All Across Africa, via The Little Market

Sampano Storage Basket (detail), via Urbanara

Tiny Whimsical Basket in Gold, by All Across Africa, via The Little Market

Reina Peacock Chair, via Anthropologie

How Unopiù Ushers Italian Riviera Into the Home

If there is ONE catalogue release that fills me with both excitement and anticipation, Unopiu's catalogue is it. Year upon year it comes up with a feast for the eyes, as much in terms of innovative product design and quality of materials, as in the photographic style and select photoshoot locations of geographical and architectural interest (Italian lakeside, Tuscany and seaside as appetizers, anyone?). We are talking the stuff of glossies, so if you happen to be an Architectural Digest aficionado, Unopiù is of that sleek calibre.

Therefore no dreaded dingy studio with zero art direction and snapshots on the cheap here! Everything is carefully thought out in its minute detail, and to the highest spec, from the products to the catalogue layout and quality of the paper itself. Talk about immersive experience, you got it right here at Unopiù!

Of course the catalogue's aim is not to detract, distract or deflect from the product ranges themselves. This is a retail company after all. The marketing material enhances what is to be expected when you shop from a place like Unopiù. Expect no-negotiable quality: weatherproof garden furniture, sturdy pergolas, homeware pieces that are made to stand out, and ingenious carports and greenhouses that become one with their surroundings.

All is delivered in style and originality and Unopiù shows us how it's done. I might be French and credit a little patriotic excellence in arts and design to my country where credit's due, there is however nothing like Italian design to tone that French chauvinism right down! Design italiano e bellissimo!

Source: All photography by Unopiù.

Plein Air Paintings by Calvin Liang

You do not get more outdoorsy than 'Plein Air'. And when nature and the elements lend themselves to the painter's magic, you get luminous landscapes that breathe the strength of the outdoors. Calvin Liang is a Plein Air painter who obviously loves sunkissed coastlines, and to view one of his paintings is to immerse oneself in a daytrip from the comfort of home. I wouldn't mind a couple of those on the walls of my living room, let me tell you! As much as I am sold, all of those paintings herein have been sold, which is usually (figuratively) the price to pay when faced with talent. This little daytrip of a post is also a trip down memory lane as I am revisiting places which I discovered back in Spring 2001, when I travelled to California; Laguna Beach and Carmel were firmly on my roadmap. Will be back!

Source: (1-7) Calvin Liang Fine Art. Chinese-born Calvin Liang is a highly-esteemed American Plein Air painter, a Master Member of Oil Painters of America and American Impressionist Society, and a Signature Member of California Art Club and Laguna Plein Air Painters Association.

Plein Air painting is an immersive Fine Art technique popularised in the 19th century in France. It takes painters out of the art studio and into the great outdoors, where the aim is to strive to recreate movement, light effects, luminosity as it is being experienced on location, at a particular time of day. Historically the mastery of natural light was the key element that defined the Impressionist movement. Plein Air developed further into Realism, Naturalism and Luminism, via the French Barbizon School and the American Hudson River School, praised for the detailed, lifelike, almost photographic quality of their landscapes.

Further Reading:

• Barbizon School, via Artsy
• L'Impressionisme (French article), via Larousse