A figure dressed in white among deckchairs tossed by the wind, by the sea
Mauvais LibeccioWicked libeccio2013 · Oil on canvas · 46 × 55 cm

VI

The memory of the libeccio

In his paintings an unseen force sends deckchairs flying and topples pots, vases and columns. For the gallerist Alain Blondel, who represented him for almost thirty years, it is the memory of the libeccio, the westerly wind that sent deckchairs flying on the Roman beaches at dusk.

A few figures dressed in white stride through these wind-battered places. Their shirts flap and sometimes they lose their hats; yet they keep walking, unmoved, lost in their thoughts.