ColorTherapy: Riviera Pastels, ’08

Two years ago I wrote about the Riviera as I first began this column. I recently returned to the south of France for some R & R—and had another one of my color explosions. This will be the first of three new articles on the colors of the French Riviera…

Buildings all along the waterfront in small cities from Nice to Menton are painted the colors of sorbet and mustard. This palette is old world and whimsical, fun but never garish. It contains an Italian influence and is also a natural part of the earth and sea. I carried a batch of Ralph Lauren swatches with me, and the colors matched perfectly.

To capture the earthy undertones seen in these pictures, you might also consider the Benjamin Moore Classic or Aura color decks, but not the brighter Color Preview. Try painting your shutters in Farrow & Ball Arsenic 214, another perfect match.

I’ll close with a few of my watercolor sketches of the area…

Ralph Lauren Color suggestions: Cinnamon VM35, Windsor Burgundy VM67, Capri Pink VM71, Caramel Pink VM70

- Mark Chamberlain, interior and decorative painter

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Comments (5)

love your watercolours

posted by mschatelaine on July 15th 2008 at 6:35am
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Simply gorgeous. Glad you're covering this topic. Just beautiful!

posted by darcidoodle on July 15th 2008 at 6:40am
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Hey - what a great idea to take the color swatches with you. I just got back last night from 6 weeks in France and it was lovely to see these first thing today. And to have the colors named- excellent!

I was on the other end of the Med, but the colors are the same. The moment we crossed into Spain, all the villages were white, which is nice in a different way.

I was told in Collioure that the reason for the brightly colored mixes on the houses was that fishermen used to paint their boats for visibility from afar. They used the left-over paint for their houses. So the houses ended up being a patchwork of colors.

Don't know if it's true, but that's what I was told.

posted by Dulcibella on July 15th 2008 at 6:43am
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Reminds me of a trip to this little town in Mexico that was submerged by a dam, then resurfaced during a drought. The popular colors were that kind of pink, a minty green and a soft blue. One house had polka dots in the doorway, as though there were huge dominoes lining it.

posted by whytephoenix on July 15th 2008 at 7:34am
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Oh, finally an AT post from home! (I live in Nice.) The colors are indeed one of my favorite things about living here. I live in a stone building done in art deco style, with eggshell window frames that have pastel-yet-lime-green shutters (it's a beautiful shade, bright and calm at the same time). Then I go to work in pink offices and admire the view of the blue, blue Mediterranean on my way back home!

posted by fraise on July 15th 2008 at 8:56am
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