Memories of Provence by Hachiro Kanno

Going back to my memory of that wonderful trip we made in Provence in June 2009 I opened the book that was offered to us by one of our sons, “Une promenade en Provence ” by Hachiro Kanno. Even though the title is in French, there are so few comments that it shouldn’t stop you from enjoying browsing through the notebook of this Japanese painter and calligrapher installed in Paris in 1968. He presents the black and grey wash drawings he painted after his travel. 

Unpretentious, unostentatious, he recreates daily scenes and landscapes seen during his excursions in Provence. Few strokes, no details, a pure simplicity just the way I like it with these Japanese painters who, with little, create a painting where you see the essentials, where your can feel the movement, the life. 

It is a pure pleasure to browse through the notebook where the artist shares with us some moment-poems that reflect a fleeting but eternal universe.

Photograph from the book « Une promenade en Provence »,
Hachiro Kanno, Albin Michel, 2003.

October 23, 2010