Quai de la Ligne, Avignon

1940's(?)

During the Second World War Mela Muter moved to Avignon in the south of France, where she continued to paint and taugh drawing and art history at the College Ste Marie. In return the local authorities gave her a small house which she kept until her death, returning regularly for summer holidays after the end of WW2 when she had relocated to Paris.

The work above depicts Quai de la Ligne in Avignon, looking towards the Pont d'Avignon. The yellow house, far left, is Muter's house, 24 Quai de la Ligne. Muter painted numerous works in the vicinity of her house, in the street, in and around the stairs behind her house, and around the Pont d'Avignon.

The artist outside her house in Avignon

Muter painted some of her best works in Avignon during the Second World War, especially landscapes. Her work is charactised at this point by a shift in palette towards deep blues (seen here in the hills in the background) mustard yellows, and light greys, yellows and ochres. Shortly after, in the 1950's, her eyesight began to fail and the quality of her work changed dramatically.