Rocks at Gignac by the Sea

In 1935, Georgette Chen undertook a 4-month painting trip to Provence from 12 July to 10 October where she painted approximately 30 works. She was accompanied by her husband Eugene Chen, her former Académie Colarossi teacher Charles Picart Le Doux, and his wife. The following year in 1936, Chen staged her first solo exhibition at the Galerie Barreiro in Paris, exhibiting 42 artworks, featuring many from the painting trip to Provence. Rocks at Gignac by the Sea was likely painted during this trip, and also likely to have been included in her solo exhibition. Chen wrote in her diaries that she travelled to Gignac-la-Nerthe in late-September 1935. Chen renders the cliff face with the use of a palette knife, expressing the texture of rock through a additionally sensitive use of colour and shading to create depth.