The watercolors
Like drawing, watercoloring was one of Dom Robert's earliest forms of artistic expression. No trace remains of the 1920 watercolors painted during his military service in Morocco, nor of his projects in gouache for Tissus Ducharne, a cloth design workshop. As of his novitiate at En Calcat, he continued his artistic life by continuing to paint in watercolors. At first, he produced modest paintings of monastic life (including the construction of the monastery) or of the surrounding countryside, often to accompany his correspondence. He also illustrated with watercolors booklets for liturgical feasts.
In the 1940s, the abbot commissioned him to do the illuminations for an Evangeliary of which only a few plates remain.
Dom Robert continued to paint watercolors throughout his life. Some of them inspired tapestry cartoons such as Ombelles du matin (Morning Umbells), which came to be known as Laudes (Lauds).
At the same time, he shared his artistic gifts with the monastic community by creating ephemeral decorations for the more important liturgical feast days. (see the gallery of watercolors)
