The Great White Peak

This magnificent study of Mont Blanc was winner of an honorable mention in the Paris Salon of 1923—in a competition that held 7000 paintings, many of them from the brushes of the world’s master artists. The towering peak is shown in all its stupendous weight and overwhelming volume in brush-work that has the decision and authority of a modeling tool, so competent is this painter when he deals with form. And the color is as compelling as its form—in fact, it dwells in the form, permeates it.

Note: this painting’s title as it appears in the Stendahl catalog appears to conflict with the name mentioned in the book Edgar Payne: The Scenic Journey. In that book the name of this painting is Le Grand Pic Blanc (dated 1922). Below is a snapshot of that page in the book with this painting. There is another painting by Payne that is titled The Great White Peak (No. 2). I’ve posted it below for comparison. Payne appears to reuse the same or similar titles for multiple paintings which make it difficult to locate the paintings in the Stendahl catalog.– Carl Olson