Baigneurs à Carqueiranne

ALBERT MARQUET

Bordeaux 1875 - 1947 Paris

Ref: BZ 145

Baigneurs à Carqueiranne

Signed lower left: marquet

Oil on canvas: 19 ¾ x 24 in / 50.2 x 61 cm

Frame size: 27 x 31 ½ in / 68.6 x 80 cm

In a Louis XV pastel style carved and gilded frame

Painted in 1938

Provenance:

The artist;

by inheritance to his wife Marcelle Marquet, Paris;

from whom acquired in 1953 by Galerie Marigny, Paris;

from whom acquired by Mr and Mrs Pierre F Simon, New York;

by descent to Jacqueline Albert Simon, New York

Exhibited:

New York, Wildenstein & Co. Inc., A Loan Exhibition for the Benefit of the Hospitality Committee of the United Nations. Albert Marquet, 28th October-4th December 1971, no.47, illus. (lent by Mr and Mrs Pierre F Simon)

To be included in the forthcoming Digital Catalogue Raisonné of the work of Albert Marquet currently being prepared by the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, Inc., ref. 21.04.20/20835

Albert Marquet was fascinated all his career by the effect of light on water, whether the greyish light on the rivers of northern France or, as here, the magical Mediterranean light of Provence. His friend André Rouveyre commented: ‘Marquet reigns over the kingdom of light. The light that shines on the things of this world, of course, but also that which belongs to his pictures alone: a strangely regal quality that comes from his sensitivity and wisdom’.

The resort of Carqueiranne lies between Toulon and Hyères. Marquet captures the pale turquoise blue of the sea on a hazy day, with sandy cliffs on the far sweep of the bay and the intense white of a yacht pricking the horizon. A delicate tracery of young trees provides a deliciously cool viewpoint. Marquet’s interest in Japanese art is reflected in the elegant restraint and allusiveness of the composition. Unusually for him, the figures are comparatively large and fully realized in their brilliant simplicity. The artist conjures up a perfect mood of summer languor and enjoyment.

ALBERT MARQUET

Bordeaux 1875 - 1947 Paris

Albert Marquet was born in Bordeaux in 1875, the son of a railway employee. He went to Paris to study at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs at the age of fifteen. Six years later he joined the studio of Gustave Moreau, where he met and forged lasting friendships with Camoin, Rouault, Manguin and Matisse. During this period Marquet began to use the vibrant colours and bold brushwork that is characteristic of the Fauves with whom he was closely associated. He exhibited at Berthe Weill and the Galerie Druet, Paris from 1902 and from 1903 at the Salon d’Automne.

After 1907 Marquet’s interest in Japonisme resulted in more sober works. He travelled extensively, frequently leaving his apartment on the banks of the Seine to visit England, Germany, Italy, the USSR, Scandinavia and North Africa, where he spent the years of the Second World War. He met his wife Marcelle Martinet, whom he married in 1923, on his first stay in Algiers in 1920.

The most profound influence on his work is that of the Impressionists, most notably Paul Cézanne. Like the Impressionists his favourite subjects were port scenes, beaches, quaysides, river views and coastal villages; he was particularly fascinated by the effect of light on water.

André Rouveyre, a fellow student in Gustave Moreau’s atelier, wrote: ‘Marquet reigns over the kingdom of light. The light that shines on the things of this world, of course, but also that which belongs to his pictures alone: a strangely regal quality that comes from his sensitivity and wisdom. Skies, hills, houses, streets all bathe in his subtle but intense lights’.

The work of Albert Marquet is represented in the Musée d’Orsay, Paris; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Musée des Beaux-Arts, La Rochelle; the Musée de Grenoble; the Hermitage, St Petersburg; Tate, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Art Institute of Chicago and the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.