The Riviera, 1920s. Villa L'Enchantement, near Cannes. A pool, a terrace, a young girl on a balcony who has stopped to look at something only she can see.
Swimming Pool, Southern France captures the particular luxury of an afternoon with nowhere to be — the shimmering water, the sheltered terraces, the distant hills of Mougins dissolving into warm haze. Lavery spent time at Villa L'Enchantement during his Riviera years, and the paintings he made there have a quality of ease that his London society portraits rarely allowed. Here, he is simply watching the day unfold.
It is a painting about the pleasure of not being anywhere else.
Sir John Lavery (1856–1941) was born in Belfast, trained in Glasgow and Paris, and became one of the most celebrated painters of his era. His work is hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland, the Tate, and major collections worldwide.
archival print on 250gsm fine-art matte paper. Printed to order. Free worldwide shipping.
