Note Type
Artist’s Intent NoteNote
"He [Newton] often used a palette knife to apply generous layers of paint, giving his work a highly textured surface that embodied the landscapes he favored" (Impressionist Legacies 36). Note Type
Artist’s Intent NoteNote
"Executed on one of the artist’s springtime sojourns, A Provençal Farm attests to the resurgence of life within the cultivated fields of southeastern France. Together with a scattering of flowering fruit trees, rows of stylized plants emerge from tilled soil in anticipation of the growing season. Newton was particularly motivated by the interconnectedness of living things, not only their dependence on one another for survival, but their ability to inspire great artwork. Referencing the admiration he had for the landscapes of John Constable, Gustave Courbet, Charles-François Daubigny, and Claude Monet, Newton writes: “Looking at and listening to Nature—there is no greater teacher for the artist. Where else do we get all our ideas of form and line, of harmony and composition from? But I can also not disown the influence that I gained from bygone artists. … We may depart from the old master’s manners and methods; we may ourselves find new ways; but they have pointed the chart for us, and from their safe guidance is our best instruction. The rest, apart from one’s own individuality, is simply a matter of personal practice, experience, and endeavor"' (Impressionist Legacies 36).