Albert Marquet. Paintings for All Seasons

The son of a maid and railway employee, Albert Marquet (1875-1847) was born in the port city of Bordeaux in south-west France. At the age of 15 he moved to Paris, but the sea remained his unchanging love. The artist traveled a lot. He was easy on the rise. Alber Marque received a particularly vivid impression in Naples and Venice. Paintings, where he painted the sea and boats, placing emphasis on light under water, practically do not depend on the time in which he lived. Typical of the "Neapolitan Bay" (1909), which is stored in the Hermitage. The master wrote it, looking from the top. The sky is reflected in the water, the distance is infinite, everything is space and will. The space is organized in a black outline.

Creativity of the painter

Mark as an artist was formed in the atmosphere of Fauvism. He was friendly with Matisse, Derain, Vlaminck, Ruo, Duffy. But the colors do not rage on his canvases. His sense of color is amazing. In the landscapes of Paris, which he adored, the gray and yellow colors of the palette are inactive. Albert Marke painted the painting using black outlines. They helped him along with the chiaroscuro and the prospect of revealing form and volume. But in some works he refused them. "Quay of the Louvre, summer" - is a view from the window of his studio. The work is full of a combination of complex colors, where the violet prevails against the pale sky. Quite unusually canvas, with love showing purple Paris, - "St. Trinity. " These works are also exhibited in the Hermitage. And how cold Paris is in winter! Notre Dame in the distance, close-up is given to the Seine embankment, and everything is submerged in a gray gloom. The artist works artistically only with silvery shades of gray. In addition to the scenery of Paris, during his travels to France, Germany, Switzerland, Albert Marke painted paintings with views of the river or the sea, with ports and ships. These two themes (Paris and the sea) completely captured the master's imagination.

Artist Albert Marquet, paintings

"The port in Honfleur" (1911) - one of the masterpieces of the painter, who was in the Pushkin Museum. Pushkin from the collection of Sergei Shchukin. The hand of the master is recognized immediately, in particular for a harmonious color and a relaxed free brushstroke. Naval distances, boats, gray pale sky, greenish water with a slight ripple. Albert Marche paintings, using very economical technical means, and he manages to convey life in all its low-key, but romantic charm. His paintings tend to be a permanent image of the Seine, beaches, sea and shores. One of his best paintings, The Port of Marseilles (1916), is in Japan (the Okhara Art Museum). Horizontally the canvas is divided into three parts. In the foreground there are clearly marked out in the calm turquoise water of the boat, then there is a light sea space, which is crowned by the foggy gray outlines of the city on the mountain. It is surrounded by a pale, faint yellowish sky. One can not help remembering the engravings of Hokusai "One hundred kinds of Fuji". Nowadays, the heritage of Albert Marche is being reopened.

Exhibition of Albert Marquet

In 2015, the Museum of Modern Art in Paris hosted an exhibition of 70 paintings and 60 drawings of Marche. All the works were very high level. These are the landscapes of Paris, Algeria, Hamburg, Naples. Figures in ink amazed visitors with laconism and realism. Three strokes the artist manages to convey life. Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts also noted the artist's 140th anniversary with the exhibition "Albert Marke. The artist stopped the time. " From Paris it differs in that it has the impressions of a trip to Marche in the USSR, as well as the work of young Russian artists of the 1920s who were influenced by Marche. The master himself is represented by 49 canvases. In addition, it shows the work of Derain ("Drying sails"), Vlaminck ("Barges on the Seine"), Duffy ("Regatta").

The works of Albert Marquet in the Hermitage

Thanks to Ivan Morozov (6 paintings) and Sergei Shchukin (9 paintings), our largest museums have paintings that were written by Albert Marche. The paintings in the Hermitage are, like in Moscow, the early Marche (1901-1913). These include "The Modists", "View of the Seine and the Monument to Henry IV", "The Quay of the Louvre, Summer", "Rainy Day in Paris. Notre Dame, Hamburg Port, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Neapolitan Bay, Emerald Embankment, Harbor in Menton. The Parisian landscapes forced to talk about the artist as a master with his own expressive system and about the "Paris of Marche." He wrote them, looking from his apartment on the sixth floor (for example, "Embankment in green"). The view of the artist from the height "drags" the viewer in depth. The painter himself developed such a manner of work. The "Harbor in Menton" is unusual, joyful and bright. Against the background of the blue cloudless sky, the white city on the white embankment illuminates, reflecting, the azure sea. The proportions of the sea, boat and ship are harmonious. Thanks to the light, it seems that the world is warmed by the rays of the southern sun.

The artist's work is filled with eternally beautiful, not political pictures, for the day's anger. His works do not lose their charm, and they want to return again and again.