Mela Muter (1876 Warsaw - 1967 Paris), View of the Fort of Saint Andrew and the Papal Palace in Villeneuveles-Avignon

oil, panel, 54.5 × 65 cm
Signed p. g.: "Muter"

"[...] The paintings of Ms. M. Muterova were placed in a prominent place, in the first room. The [...] landscapes from the South live their own life extremely focused, firm and painful in their tension, and yet without a trace of resignation or passive despair [...]".
E. Woroniecki, Artyści polscy w Paryskim Salonie, "Tygodnik Ilustrowany" 1924, no. 7, p. 100.
After the outbreak of World War II, Mela Muter left Paris and went to the south of France. She initially settled in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon and then in Avignon. There she settled at 12 Velonterie St. She worked at the girls' school College Saint-Marie, where she taught drawing, literature and art history. Avignion becomes very close to the artist. After the end of the war, Melania returned to Paris, but in the summer she returns to Avignon. Here the city authorities offered the artist an apartment at Quai de la Linge 24, located at the foot of the papal palace and gardens. In Avignon itself, the artist had solo exhibitions, including in 1948 and 1958.
Provençal views of Avignion and the surrounding area appear very often in Melani's work. The artist was particularly fond of views showing the 14th-century Fort of Saint Andrew in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, as exemplified by the painting on display. The work bears all the characteristic features of Melani's painting. A thickly applied layer of paint gives the work a sculptural feel. The rough texture, almost coming out of the frame of the work, is alive, pulsating. Mela does not focus on a faithful reproduction of a given landscape. He captures its elements synthetically. Also notable in the composition are the painted olive trees, crowding the bottom of the composition, which Melania treated with the same attention as the human models: "But I love the olive tree the most. No tree is as human as it [...]; so sensitive when its tiny leaves tremble at the slightest gust of wind." ("Collection of Bolesław and Lina Nawrocki, Mela Muter (Maria Melania Mutermilch) 1876-1967," Exhibition catalog, National Museum in Warsaw, December 1994-February 1995, Warsaw 1994, p. 35.)