From the start he paid special attention to the problem of unlocking art to the public : he joined various groups who wanted to reduce the gap between art and the public. By means of its subjects art should fit in with real life. It should treat subjects such as the existence, the work of modern men, their struggle, suffering, … In addition techniques and materials like tapestry, frescoes, ceramics, mosaics, … should be revalued. To Somville, art is not the sole privilege of the favoured classes.
His works
Somville's work is rooted in a refusal of what he considers to be a futile aestheticism. However, his work is not therefore naturalist. Rather than copy reality, he takes it as his source, reconstituting it and transforming it in new, pictorial terms. Forms adapt themselves to the expression of a conviction, emotions, a character; they burst their limits, change their shape. The explosion of colours serves a desire to express the pulsating of an inner world, over and above the message. They thunder out, sometimes on the verge of a deliberate vulgarity, or, on the contrary are gaiety and passionate love of life itself. Return
