French artists and friends
By now, you know that some of the Barefoot Blogger’s favorite people in France are artists.
Let me tell you about one I’ve just met — Andy Newman.
It’s an exciting story of how Andy and I got to know each other online. Andy has been visiting my blog at the suggestion of another artist I met in Uzes, Jean Marie Memin. After I published the story about Roussillon, Andy told me, “Your Roussillon town photo brings to mind any number of the paintings that will be includedย in my exhibition next month.”
An image that looked like it could have been drawn from one of my photos. was attached to the emailย
When I emailed Andy back, he sent even more examples of his work.
Now I’m hooked. Andy’s work is so representative of the red hills, valleys, and ochre-colored houses of the Luberon that it’s almost like being there.ย
Who is Andy Newman?
Andy hasn’t always been an artist. He was a Washington, DC lawyer. It wasn’t until 1994 that he gave up his law career and started painting full-time.
I love people with “new beginnings.”
Andy grew up in France, England and Italy. His father was a Foreign Service officer. He attendedย French schools as a child, completing high school and university in England. He returned to the United States to attend law school and practiced law for fifteen years in Washington. Andy realized in the late 880sthat he had a passion for art and that it was becoming more than a hobby. He had studied Edward Hopper, Derain, Vlaminck, Lucian Freud, and Mark Rothko. He was developing a voice of his own. So when he left the law firm in the 90’s, he was already entrenched in his new career.ย
The subject matter is no accident.
Andy returned to visit France in the summer of 1974 — to the region around Bagnols-sur-Cรจze. In 2005, he bought a village house in Cavillargues, where he and his family spend their summers.
The artist’s work has been exhibited at galleries in Nรฎmes, Montpellier, and Le Grau du Roi. Theย exhibition at the Centre St Maur in Bagnols is hisย first to be put on in partnership with a municipality. If you’re nearby, ย be sure to put a visit to the show on your “to-do list.
ANDY NEWMAN: EXPOSITION โRENCONTREโ
avec FLORENCE CORBI et PIERRE AMIEL
Centre dโArt Rhodanien Saint-Maur, Bagnols-sur-Cรจze
du 13 au 26 avril, 2015
