Without Worry is a painting of her youngest son, Anthony, painted in the spring after I had left to go to University in the United States. As the summer wound down in 1971 my mother realized that she wanted to do a painting of me but knew that I wasn’t interested in taking the time needed to sit for one, so she took a few photographs of what she had in mind and left me free to visit the local Lac de Saint-Cassien (in the background) or tear about the countryside on my mobylette (moped). Shortly after these pictures were made I managed to crash that mobylette and flipped over the handlebars to get a severe “road rash” on my chest and one side of my face. So even if I had been patient it wouldn’t have been a good look. So the painting was actually done several months later after I had already left the country.

At the time I didn’t appreciate the significance of the title but looking back over fifty years, I can clearly see that this was my last summer of innocence with no worries about life or working and no real responsibilities. Interestingly we can see from the diary entries below, that she already had the title in mind before starting the painting. The tree is a close portrait of the cherry tree in our little garden area at Montauroux even if I’m not so certain of its proportions, I can see why she felt the need to give it some breathing room on the edge of the frame. The background is also a very good rendition of the nearby Lac de Saint-Cassien that we would visit frequently to get some relief from the summer heat. You can also see from the diary entries below that it was a bit of struggle to do the painting just from the photographs and her memory. Incidentally the Callian painting mentioned, can be seen in the landscape section.

Photographs

Below are a series of photographs that were used for this painting.

Diary Entries