Notre Dame Reflections Place Hotel de Ville, Paris

Notre Dame Reflections Place Hotel de Ville, Paris Original Oil on Primed Belgian Linen 46cm x 36cm

A beautiful morning in Place Hotel de Ville where the recent addition of a carousel offers a delightful and colourful scene set against the background of the historic Notre Dame Cathedral.  This beautiful cathedral stands on the Ile-de-la-Cite and was built in the 12^th century on the site of an old Roman temple.  It is considered to be a Gothic masterpiece and over the centuries has always been a church for the people of Paris. A recent shower has left the pavements of the Place Hotel de Ville glistening and reflecting the colours of the misty Autumn morning whilst soft sunshine is seen filtering through the clouds and highlighting the ancient stonework and spires of Notre Dame.

No other Australian painter presents the harsh bush or cold city streets with such softness and subtlety. The hand of this former crocodile hunter is not anywhere evident in the calm, gentle landscapes that have made Ramon Ward-Thompson one of Australia’s most sought after artists. Ramon has been painting professionally for 50+ years. He prefers to paint in the early morning and late afternoon, when distant objects tend to fade into a soft haze. Ramon uses only three primary colours and white paints and he mixes these over and over to obtain the colours he desires.

Born at Masterton in New Zealand, Ramon purchased a one-way ticket to Sydney at age 19. From jobs digging sewerage and rigging, Ramon saved up enough money to travel to England, where his mother, a music teacher & noted violinist, was now living. He took up painting and spent 12 months attending Art School in London, before travelling back to Sydney. He and a New Zealand mate set off to Darwin, where he hunted crocs by night and fished barramundi by day. They became experts in their field, making documentaries for TV and being interview by journalists. Ramon was self-employed and vowed never to work for wages again. In 1970, after three years, Ramon parted company with his mate, and moved back to Sydney with his possessions rolled in a blanket and $1,000 in the bank. He threw himself back into his painting, with a sell-out exhibition in a friend’s hair dressing salon in 1971. He married wife Wendy in 1972. The couple settled in Berrima for 4 1/2yrs, Southern Highlands, NSW – two daughters were born during this time. This move was to greatly influence his painting style, as it is here that he introduced the soft misty Highland light into his romantic studies.