Ultramarine Wash on Arcachon Bay
Acrylic on paper
Contemporary landscape painting

This study depicts a group of boats resting along the shores of Arcachon Bay, partially immersed in the surrounding vegetation and pine trees that line the waterfront.

Executed in a single wet-on-wet session, the painting is built through transparent washes and layered passages of ultramarine blue. Variations in dilution are enough to reveal the forms, while subtle touches of blue-grey green modulate the composition and introduce delicate shifts of light.

The brushwork remains visible throughout the surface, preserving the immediacy of the gesture. Edges stay fluid and open, allowing boats, trees, water, and shoreline to merge into a shared atmosphere.

Drawing from the landscapes of Arcachon Bay, Hélène Vac explores a contemporary approach to landscape painting in which colour, light, and gesture take precedence over detailed description. Between representation and abstraction, the work transforms a familiar coastal scene into a quiet and contemplative vision.

The painting invites the viewer to experience the landscape through sensation rather than observation, where transparency, memory, and colour shape the perception of space.