PAINTERS IN MARTIGUES

The quality of light is often quoted in relation to why certain places become favoured by artists and certainly at Martigues, positioned as it is between the reflective surfaces of the Mediterranean on one side and the Etang de Berre on the other, this elusive element has something that has intrigued painters for almost two hundred years. When Raoul Dufy visited in the early twentieth century the town was also undergoing the transition from a quiet backwater mainly concerned with fishing, agriculture and work in the salt marshes to a more industrial and urban community. It is this instant when two such worlds meet, collide, merge, co-exist or all of the above at the same time that can prove to be a catalyst for artists in their quest to create ground-breaking work. Brief biographies follow of just a few of the many who have found inspiration in this special and often overlooked place.

Émile Loubon (1809–1863)
Born in Aix-en-Provence where he went on to study at the École de Dessin. There he became friends with François Granet and together they travelled to Rome in 1829. He later became the director of the School of Practical Design in Marseille. He is particulary known for his pastoral and animal paintings and is a leading figure in the Provencal school of painters. His slightly uncharacteristic work Panorama de la ville et du port de Martigues, painted in 1844 gives a good impression of the layout of the town in the early part of the nineteenth century. This painting is in the collection of the Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Marseille.

Félix Ziem (1821–1911)
He was born in Beaune, the son of an emigrant Polish tailor. The family moved to Dijon and it was there that Félix enroled at the School of Fine Art in 1837 to study drawing and architecture. He was a rather rebellious student and was soon expelled and after a disagreement with his father he moved to Marseille where he found some success as an artist. He moved to Nice in 1842 and quickly established himself as a favourite painter with patrons from the Russian and English nobility. He became an enthusiastic traveller and was captivated by Venice and also visited other parts of Italy, Russia, Greece, Turkey, Egypt and North Africa, all the while enhancing his reputation as a landscape painter combining elements of Romanticism, Realism and Orientalism. Ziem first visited Martigues in 1841 but twenty years later he bought a house where he indulged his passion for all things oriental by building a mosque complete with minarets. Unfortunately this exotic folly was demolished in 1974. He was a regular exhibitor at the Paris Salon and lent his support to Monet and some of the other Impressionists. Over a very long life he became a pillar of the art establishment in France but at the same time was much respected by many of the ‘new-wave’ artists in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, not least Vincent Van Gogh and Auguste Rodin. The picture shown above is Vue de Martigues.

Paul Camille Guigou (1834–1871)
He studied painting at Apt and later with Loubon at Marseille and was much influenced by the Barbizon school and Gustave Courbet. He died at the age of 37 and although he achieved little recognition in his lifetime, appreciation of his work has grown and he is now seen as a significant Provencal painter. The picture shown is Les Martigues painted in 1868.

Charles Pellegrin (1837?–1936)
Little is known about this member of the Provencal school but he painted extensively in Martigues and was a close friend of Adolphe Monticelli of Marseille.

Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
Undoubtedly one of the giants of Impressionism who, like so many others, became captivated by the South of France and eventually settled in Cagnes-sur-Mer near Nice. The benign climate was also a comfort as he suffered terribly with rheumatoid arthritis in his later years. In 1882 he spent some time with Paul Cézanne painting at L’Estaque just outside Marseille and it was at about this time that he also visited Martigues. Several canvases resulted and the one shown is Le Port de Martigues (Private collection) painted in 1888. A more comprehensive biography for Renoir can be found on our sister website – www.wheretheartiststood.co.uk in the entry about Marly-le-Roi and Louveciennes.

Edouard Ducros (1856–1936)
He was born in Aix-en-Provence and came to painting quite late in life having been in the legal profession until the age of 46. He received some formal training in Aix and went on to become a leading light in the Provencal school.

Charles Henri Malfroy (1862–1918) and Henry Malfroy (1895–1944)
Father and son who were both accomplished painters specialising in marine subjects, especially the ports and harbours of the South of France rendered in an impresionistic style. Henry was born in Martigues and spent most of his life here. The painting shown is Les Martigues (Private collection) by Charles, the father.

Antoine Ponchin (1872–1934)
Recognised as a significant figure in the Provencal School of Painting he was born in Marseille but trained in Paris. He is best known for his rural landscapes and Mediterranean coastal scenes.

Francis Picabia (1878–1953)
He was born in Paris the son of a French mother and a Spanish-Cuban father. The family was not short of money and Francis was free to pursue his creative interests, enroling at the École des Arts Decoratifs in the late 1890’s. Early in his career he moved, butterfly-like, between many artistic movements including Impressionism, Pointillism, Cubism, and he was also a leading figure in the Dada movement. He later dabbled in Surrealism before turning to other interests including poetry, typography and photography. The paintings he produced of Martigues are from the period when he was much influenced by the Impressionists and the one shown here is Le Port de Martigues, 1902 (Private collection).

Raoul Dufy (1877–1953)
An almost exact contemporary with Picabia, Dufy was also exposed to ever-changing developments in the art world and moved from one ‘ism’ to another absorbing influences all the time. However, unlike Picabia this did not lead to disenchantment but to the creation of a unique style all his own which has led to him being recognised as a highly influential figure in the development of modern art rather than a fringe figure which perhaps is true of Picabia. Born on the Normandy coast at Le Havre, he was the son of a church organist and choirmaster. The sea and music would prove to be enduring passions throughout his life. At art evening classes he met Othon Friesz and Georges Braques who became friends for many years to come. He was awarded a grant by the city of Le Havre to continue his art education in the capital and here he entered the creative hothouse of ‘fin-de-sciecle’ Paris, meeting many of the leading artists of the day. His early landscapes, painted with a fairly subdued palette in an impressionistic style, were exhibited in 1903 and well-received. It was at this time that Dufy was encouraged to visit the ‘South’ and perhaps at the suggestion of Picabia who was a great fan of Ziem, he chose Martigues as his first destination. Here he was following in the footsteps of other artists such as Renoir, Signac and Derain and for a couple of months he was completely absorbed by the place and produced a series of paintings rendered in a much lighter and brighter palette.

This was to be the first of many visits to the town and over the next few years his style would be influenced by the wild colours of the Fauves and the work of Matisse, Derain, Vlaminck, Marquet, Manguin and Camoin. In 1907 he returned to Marseille and Martigues and then decided to settle in La Ciotat where his style took a new direction with an exploration of the ideas behind Cubism and in this enterprise he was joined by his friend Georges Braque. He returned to Paris in 1909 and started to take an interest in the decorative arts. The advent of war in 1914 brought about another turning point in that the various artistic groups and movements began to fragment and Dufy would henceforth follow his own path. The various influences that he had absorbed over the years led to a unique style characterised by freedom of line, fluidity, transparency and not-least, humour. The picture shown is Les Barques aux Martigues, 1907 (Fridart Foundation, London) and this comes from the period when elements of Fauvism and Cubism are evident in his work.

Nicolas de Staël (1914–1955)
He was born in Russia the son of a high ranking military officer and the family had to flee to Poland after the Revolution. At the age of eight he was an orphan and moved to Brussels to be with his elder sister. He studied art at Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts and then travelled extensively in Europe and North Africa. He served in the French Foreign Legion between 1939 and 1941 and after the war he was based mainly in Paris where he became close friends with Georges Braque. His abstract landscapes achieved increasing recognition and success in the salerooms both in Europe and the United States. Always prone to depression he sought isolation in the South of France and moved to Antibes in 1953. However, the peace of mind that he was seeking eluded him and in 1955 he committed suicide. De Staël certainly visited Martigues in 1954 and a series of paintings resulted, one of which, Les Martigues (Kunstmuseum, Winterthur, Switzerland) is shown here and illustrates his powerful use of colour in an almost abstract image.

Visitors from Britain
Martigues has not only been a magnet for French painters over the years but also for visitors from other parts of the world including a host of British artists, only a few of whom are mentioned here. John Terrick Williams (1860–1936) studied in Paris and was a leading ‘British impressionist’ who travelled widely in Europe and Martigues provided the subject material for several paintings. Augustus John (1878–1961) the flambuoyant Welshman and one of the stars of the Slade School of Art fell in love with the place in 1910 and had a house in the town until 1928. Jessica Dismorr (1885–1939) was another pupil from the Slade who was influenced by the Fauves and later became associated with Wyndham Lewis and the Vorticist movement. Her later work became completely abstract and her eventful life came to a tragic end when she commited suicide in 1939. The painting shown is her Martigues Market 2 (Private collection).

SELECTED WORKS AND WHERE THEY MAY BE SEEN

If works mentioned in the text do not appear in the list they are in private collections.

Émile Loubon
Panorama de la ville et du port de Martigues, 1844 (Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Marseille)

Raoul Dufy
Les Barques aux Martigues, 1907 (Fridart Foundation, Courtauld Gallery, London/ www.courtauld.ac.uk)

Nicolas de Staël
Les Martigues, 1954 (Kunstmuseum, Winterthur, Switzerland/www.kmw.ch)