The Castle of Beja, Alentejo, Portugal

The Castle of Beja is found in the second city of the Portuguese region of the Alentejo. It features the Torre de Menagem, which is a Roman castle, rebuilt in the Middle Ages. We usually stay in Evora, the primary city of the Alentejo, but one year tried Beja for variety’s sake. The Alentejo is very pretty and has the best food in Portugal.

Oil on canvas

36”w x 24” h

$950.

The Aude River at Carcassonne, France

Aude River, Carcassone

The Aude River at Carcassonne sits below the castle town in southwestern France. In the 1200s, the Pope and the king of France massacred millions of Frenchmen in this area in the Albigensian Crusade. Though the history is terrible, Carcassonne is beautiful and like a fairyland version of the Middle Ages.
This is one of two small paintings of Carcassonne. I was trying to capture the otherworldly, medieval look of the town in late February.

Oil on canvas
16” x 20”

$750.

Olive Grove Beja Portugal

olive grove, castle at Beja in the Alentejo, Portugal

An impressionist landscape, this is one of a pair of paintings of the olive grove on the grounds of the castle in Beja, Portugal. In this painting, the trees are painted as hundreds of individual leaves, rather than the usual way of treating the whole leaf-mass as one volume with light and shadow. The other painting of this pair is painted differently.

Oil on canvas

20”w x 16”h

$700.

Carcassonne II, France

Carcassonne is a castle town on a hill in southwestern France. In the 1200s, the Pope and the king of France agreed to conquer this part of France. The locals were Langue d’Oc speaking Cathars. The Pope declared Cathars to be heretics and the French and Papal forces killed millions of Frenchmen. France got vast new territories and the Pope got to kill off millions who wouldn’t accept his authority. The fortified city of Carcassonne still survives from that period.
This is one of two small paintings of Carcassonne. I was trying to capture the otherworldly, medieval look if the town in late February.

Oil on canvas
16” x 20”

$700.