a dive into a century of painting in Noirmoutier

Sailboats, from the rocky coast of Bois de la Chaise, by the painter Léon Printemps. LEON SPRING

Nicknamed “the island of mimosas”Noirmoutier attracts thousands of tourists every year. From salt marshes to its potato production, the island is also recognized for its dominant landscapes, from dunes to forests of maritime pines and holm oaks. The Historial de la Vendée, in Lucs-sur-Boulogne, is devoting its 2024-25 event exhibition to these unique landscapes through the eyes of painters from the 1850s to 1950. A young seaside resort on the Atlantic coast, Noirmoutier saw the arrival of the first painters in the mid-19th century^e century with easels, brushes and colors. Installed on the pier of the Plage aux Dames, the artists captured the very special light of the rocky coast of Bois de la Chaise. From regional painters Florimond Palvadeau and Jean-Émile Laboureur to André Derain, one of the founders of Fauvism.

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The major changes of the 20th century and the attractiveness of the island

A turning point occurred in the 1920s with the appearance of new landscapes on the island. “Through the regionalist pictorial movement, in the fashion of the 1910s, the landscape becomes a subject in its own right, taking on a more ethnographic dimension”indicate the organizers of the retrospective. Around a hundred works including loans from private collectors and cultural institutions, the exhibition also traces the major changes of the 20th century.^e century from the first paid holidays to the democratization of motorized vehicles to the beginnings of mass tourism. A “painting” will allow you to admire paintings retro-projected on the ceiling.