Exhibition “MARQUET Paris, mon amour”

As part of the Galerie de la Présidence’s 50^th anniversary celebrations, we are presenting an ensemble of views of Paris carried out by Albert Marquet during the Fauve period, canvases whose exceptional quality echo the painter’s Parisian views of the Morozov’s collection currently exhibited at the Fondation Louis Vuitton.

We will be also travelling from the Seine to the Mediterranean Sea, a complete panorama in twenty-two paintings…

Albert Marquet at the balcony of 1 rue Dauphine in Paris, circa 1939

From 1890 to 1947, the capital was the center of the world for Marquet.
He painted the banks of the Seine, his favorite subject, from the windows of his various apartments.

In 1905 he devoted himself to the Quai des Grands Augustins, which he overlooked from his windows, and then in 1906 to the Quai du Louvre.

Quai des Grands Augustins, Paris, Brume
1905
Oil on canvas, 60 x 73 cm

In 1906, Marquet abandoned the violent colors of Fauvism to preserve only the purity of the stroke.

He lightened his palette with muted tones, gradients ranging from black to white, brown to ochre.

He assumed innovative angles of observation, unusual perspectives, with plunging diagonal views of the banks of the Seine.

At the same time he sprinkled “his” docks with small characters sketched with a sure line, with a passion that reveals the freedom of his brush.

L’hiver, Quai du Louvre
1906
Oil on canvas, 60 x 81 cm

In 1908, Marquet moved to Quai Saint-Michel in the studio that Matisse, his lifelong friend, had just vacated. These two exceptional artists, closely linked throughout their lives, appreciated each other, each retaining his own personality.

Later, he continued to live happily on the banks of the Seine, in an apartment on rue Dauphine overlooking the Pont Neuf.

With a modern eye, with a minimalism of means and an extraordinary power of simplification, Marquet created his own Paris and expressed all his love for it.

Paris, le Quai Saint-Michel, Brouillard
Circa 1908 – 1909
Oil on canvas, 65 x 81 cm

Cette (Sète), bateau-bœuf
Oil on panel, 32,5 x 41 cm

Marseille, les deux bateaux
Circa 1916-1918
Oil on canvas, 60 x 73 cm

Catalogue

Click on the picture to open the catalogue

Video

Do you like Albert Marquet ?

Here are two videos that might interest you…
A detailed biography is also presented on the Albert Marquet “Artist’s” page.