Juvenal Sanso: Brittany

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Layout and Design: Noy Bedana

Text: Ricky Francisco

Printed in the Philippines by PrintNow

My going to Brittany has been the result of several friendships, but principally that of the friendship with the Rouault Family. Yves le Dantec is a son in law of Georges Rouault, as he married to Agnes, his youngest daughter. Yves le Dantec became a second father to me in the long run. I owe him and Agnes the long introduction to Brittany and its breathtaking beauty.

For over twenty-two years, I would go to their house on the coast and they helped me ever so gently but efficiently to feel and understand a world so different from my visual past. It took me two years of just staring at the sea and the changing tides, and the rose granite rocks. I simply could not paint. I had to digest it first and filter it. If the friendship faltered or ceased, I would have developed an inner path to Brittany. This landscape was so beautiful. I felt I did not deserve it. I had no language to express it yet.

Slowly it came, via the littlest color-ink sketches done very fast. I love them now! Year after year, my friends seconded me in every possible way. We eventually came to a simple program. After breakfast, he would take me to the rocks and pick me up at six in the evening, day after day. Whenever the tricky weather of Brittany came, when showers or storms exploded from nowhere, Yves would come and fetch me to ensure that my wet acrylic paintings would not be spoiled.

For almost a quarter of a century, these and endless favors only a true friendship can tolerate lasted. Rarely have I worked as hard as in these crazy stints of raging infatuation with Brittany. I was so happy to reward my friends with my endless activities. Would they have appreciated me if I showed them a lukewarm appreciation for their landscapes? I could never thank the le Dantecs for all they have done. I was one of the family, with no frills. They came to accept me with all the problems I brought with my painting.

“Brittany was a long a beautiful period of slowly getting away from my early neurosis and the effects of war. There was no concept in this case, it was simply the beauty of Brittany, brought about by the human situation of having the friendship of the le Dantecs who welcomed me into their family and their Brittany. I had no message to deliver to the world, nor did I have any preconceived ideas. In Brittany, I was simply living my painting, and painting my life.

France’s Brittany coast has inspired a lot of artists – from Gaugin, the Nabis, Macario Vitalis; but none could possibly be as inextricably linked to Brittany as Juvenal Sanso. For Sanso, Brittany is not just its magical coast with its pink granite stones, its wide shore dotted with seemingly abandoned boats, tile roofed houses, and the occasional brightly colored lighthouses and uninterrupted horizon. It was more. Sanso’s Brittany is not just a place; it is friendship, acceptance, and unconditional and constant support felt by him and expressed as the Brittany series by his grateful being. Brittany is the human experience that nurtured him and allowed him to expunge his war trauma. Sanso’s Brittany is a gift of gratitude to the Le Dantec family that brought him to the coast, showed them the Brittany that they loved, and accommodated him as a member of their family for 24 years. Sanso’s Brittany is not always a faithful copy of the Brittany coast, but is always the inner landscape of his heart.

In this exhibition, we see Sanso’s Brittany as it evolved over the course of over five decades. The evolution of the Brittany Series – characterized by the poetic juxtaposition of rocks, sea, and sky - is seen through changes in color palette, as well as the selection of close or far range views. We would see plein aire sketches in the innermost section, represented by 12 artworks taken from one of Sanso’s 1960’s sketchbooks which he himself classified as “AA” (“really good”) which studies the effects of light and wind on water and waves crashing or flowing over rocks. Then there are interludes of some larger, more developed, and more-or-less imaginary emerald landscapes which combine rock and sea, as seen from afar. A few works representative of the more popular late 70’s to 80’s olive and brown “Brittany Series” which zoom in on waves splashing over rocks are also present. And these are followed by works from the 1990’s that combined yellow and green rocks with vegetation backgrounded by a sky-blue sea. And lastly, works from the late 90’s to the 2000’s that are predominantly orange canvas works which carry over the yellowish rocks and light blue sea, but foregrounded by a grand, orange sky near the entrance of the gallery.

With most of Sanso’s works already in private collections, a selection such as this on the subject of Sanso’s Brittany, is a major endeavor that is often only created in museum exhibitions, such as those mounted by his own Fundacion Sanso. This second iteration of “Sanso’s Brittany,” which is organized in association with Galerie Joaquin and presented by Art Lounge ManilaMolito, is a rare treat for those who love Sanso’s work and a great introduction to the subject to those who are inclined to learn more about it.