PROVENCE

Peter Mayle, author of the bestsellers A Year in Provence and Toujours Provence, now joins with Margaret Loxton, one of England's most admired painters, in bringing forth a vibrant and affectionate evocation of that charming and legendary region of southeastern France known as Provence. Mayle says of Loxton's paintings: "I take such enormous pleasure in Margaret Loxton's work....Her paintings are not merely inhabited; they teem with life...all captured in a style that is at the same time comic, affectionate, and true."

Margaret Loxton traveled through Aix-en-Provence and the wild, beautiful country north of Aix to bring us these paintings. In the Luberon, on the Vaucluse plateau, and among the landscapes of Les Alpilles she observed the peasant farmers and their families—people with their own fierce proud character, set apart from the rest of France by their language and their unique cuisine. These are vibrant paintings, full of charm and affection, capturing the people, the outdoor cafes and scenes of village life, as well as the farms and open spaces of the rural landscape. Peter Mayle's text is as elegant and stylish as the best of his work.

Peter Mayle, an American who escaped to Provence from Madison Avenue after fifteen years in the advertising business, is widely known for his bestselling A Year in Provence and Toujours Provence. More recent works include Acquired Tastes and Hotel Pastis. His work has been translated into seventeen languages.

Margaret Loxton's earliest artistic successes portrayed English farming life and her native Kent countryside. She won the painting prize at the 1984 City of London Festival, and in 1986 exhibited her work in several major French museums, including the Musee Fabre, Montpellier. Her paintings are regularly exhibited at the Rona Gallery, Mayfair, London.