Bellias captures a sun-drenched olive grove with confident impasto strokes, layering textured foliage and golden fields beneath a clear summer sky. Subtle olive trees forms and overlapping planes guide the eye toward a distant farmhouse, lending depth to his vibrant palette.
During his formative years in Paris, mentor Othon Friesz (1879–1949; key Fauvist pioneer and tutor at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière) introduced him to daring chromatic harmonies, while colleague Édouard Goerg (1893–1969; modernist painter) honed his structural discipline—both influences clearly evident here.
Over his career, he held a solo exhibition at Galerie Monique de Rotté in 1951, won First Prize at the Salon des Jeunes Peintres in 1957 and 1959, and was an active member of the Salon d’Automne, Salon des Indépendants, and Salon de la Tuileries.
Although the painted surface measures 40 × 55 cm, the work remains in its original 12 cm-wide gilt surround and its generous profile makes the piece appear deceptively small in photographs.
