In 1898 the Swiss painter Ernest Bieler invited Marguerite Burnat-Provins to visit his home in the village of Saviese, in southwestern Switzerland. Located in the French-speaking canton of Valais, Saviese is known for its moderate climate and its productivec vineyards. Burnat-Provins was immediately captivated by the countryside and the people, spending several months there each year with Bieler and other like-minded artists.

Two paintings from the year 1900 show her imagination at work. Vielle aux Rouet (Old Woman from Rouet) is an oil painting, pigments built up in lavish strokes, similar in style to works by Van Gogh or Gauguin, but colored in her usual somber palette. Jeune Fille de Saviese (Young Girl of Saviese), executed in mixed media - crayon, watercolor and pastels echoes the art nouveau style Burnat-Provins grew up with. Characteristic panels framing the portrait contain flowers and vines native to the Valais region.

Delightfully mixing decorative elements with expressionistic portrayal and - who knows what symbolism - is Jarimouche. or The Congested One, painted in 1914.

An engaging writer, Burnat-Provins began to publish books. The first, Petits Tableuax Valaisans (1903), illustrated in a brightly-colored antique style, was intended to evoke the distance between the Saviese and the Parisian art world of her apprenticeship. See Composition aux Salamandres from 1899.
She followed with another book, Heures d"Automne (1904), stories and poems of the season.

Note: You can read the complete text at http://www.culturactif.ch/poesie/burnat.htm

Burnat-Provins also produced such decorative works as tablecloths and wall hangings, influenced by the japoniste taste for extending art to everyday objects. Mures (Blackberries, 1904 - at top) is a decorative panel celebratingg the region's bountiful fruit crops. At about this time, Burnat-Provins opened her own shop - A La Cruche Vert (At The Green Jug) - to market her work. She also founded La Ligue pour la Beaute in 1905, dedicated to preserving the Swiss architectural heritage. The organization, which has accomplished much, is is still active today.

Images: 1. Grape Leaves. 2. Vielleux Rouet, 1900. 3. Jeune Fille Saviese, 1900, Collection del'Art Brut, Lasuanne.. 4. The Congested One, 1914, Schweizer Junst Museum, Switzerland. 5 & 6. from Petits Tableaux Valaisans, 1903, Vevey. 6. Composition aux Salamabdres et Perce-Neige, 1898, Musse Jenisch, Vevey. 8. decorative watercolor, 1904, Fondation Neumann, Switzerland.