The painter Olivier Long exhibits his paintings at the’Académie Comairas, Rue Guérin, under a title that sounds rather strange after the summer we’ve just had: «The Eternal Summer». You only have to look at the poster to understand: trees silhouetted against the light, a glowing red ground, a purple sky. Olivier Long was deeply affected by the fires that ravaged the Fontainebleau forest in July, and the canvas chosen for the poster bears the marks of this.
Born in 1965 and based in Fontainebleau, Olivier Long is also Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. For many years he painted realistic scenes, often urban ones, before the forest, nature and the sea – during his summers in Corsica – led him towards a more blurred style and then towards abstraction: he seeks to convey a sensation, an atmosphere, rather than a precise form. Since 2000, his work has been exhibited at the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, at the Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon or at the Fabre Museum, Montpellier. A great opportunity to get to know him as a neighbour.
The fires have been put out, but they have left a lasting impression, and this exhibition serves as a powerful reminder of that. To end on a positive note: the forest is once again open to the public, section by section. If you’re looking for places to go hiking, walking or climbing, Fontyblog keeps an up-to-date interactive map of the sectors and blocks open to the public in the Fontainebleau Forest.
Opening on Saturday 21 November at 6.00 pm. The exhibition is open every day except Mondays, from 10.00 am to 12.00 pm and from 2.00 pm to 6.00 pm (on Fridays, in the afternoon only), and is also closed on Wednesdays 25 November and 9 December. Free entry.
A few words are enough, I reply personally.