Fishing in Cagnes

In 1925 Władysław Lam went to France on a scholarship from the Ministry of Religion and Public Enlightenment. His stay in Paris allowed for a thorough acquaintance with museum collections, and a trip to the Côte d'Azur between Nice and Cannes as confrontation with the landscapes discovered by the classics of modernity, still attracting the capital's bohemians during the summer season. Vence, a medieval town perched on the limestone cliffs of the Alps, and the affluent village of Cagnes directly on the Mediterranean, became the favourite destinations of the international group of artists. From 1907, Auguste Renoir lived permanently in Cagnes-sur-Mer. In love with olive groves and orange orchards, he spent the last years of his life at the extensive estate, hosting Auguste Rodin, Aristide Maillol, Claude Monet, Amade Modigliani, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. In 1911, the two towns were linked by a tram line, running through a picturesque viaduct under Saint-Paul-de-Vence, modelled on ancient ones. It was in this area that Paul Signac, Raoul Dufy and Chaim Soutine began to set up their easels in the open air. Lam visited Saint-Paul and Cagnes, where he created oil paintings with bright, post-impressionist colours, as well as woodcuts highlighting the cubic nature of the stone architecture on the coastal hills. The Szczecin genre scene with fishermen bending over a filled net belongs to the long tradition of the theme of modern painting, emphasising not so much the hard work at sea as the idyllic aura of the land of eternal sunshine and abundance.

Szymon Piotr Kubiak