Artwork
Gros, Mireille - Malerei, Bilderbuch
Gros, Mireille - Malerei, Bilderbuch is an unspecified work on paper by Mireille Gros. It dates from 1980 and is held in the collection of the Archaeology and Museum Baselland.
About this work
Overview
Mireille Gros’s 1980 watercolor, titled *Malerei, Bilderbuch*, presents a vivid composition of flat, saturated forms set against a grassy slope.
Mireille Gros’s 1980 watercolor, titled *Malerei, Bilderbuch*, presents a vivid composition of flat, saturated forms set against a grassy slope. The scene is populated by shapes reminiscent of tents, umbrellas, bottles and cups rendered in blues, reds and purples, while a muted gray sky looms above a field of green. The overall effect is one of playful abstraction, with loose, sketch‑like strokes suggesting immediacy.
Subject & Meaning
The work juxtaposes everyday objects with simplified, almost cartoonish silhouettes, inviting viewers to contemplate the boundary between the ordinary and the imagined. By arranging familiar items—tents, umbrellas, drinking vessels—on an open hillside, Gros hints at themes of leisure, travel, and the transitory nature of objects within a natural landscape.
Technique & Style
Executed in watercolor, the piece exploits the medium’s translucency, allowing light to pass through the paper and giving the colors a soft, semi‑transparent quality. Gros employs broad washes of bold hue, then adds loose, gestural brushwork that resembles rapid sketches, creating a layered effect where pigment and paper interact to produce a luminous surface.
History & Provenance
Created in 1980, *Malerei, Bilderbuch* entered the collection of the Museum of Ethnography, where it remains on display. The museum’s acquisition reflects its interest in works that explore cultural symbols through a modern visual language, situating Gros’s painting within a broader dialogue on contemporary interpretations of everyday objects.
Artist & collection
Artist
German artist Mireille Gros worked in watercolor, turning pages of a sketchbook into lightweight albums that traveled everywhere.
