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Albert Marquet (French, 1875-1947)
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Albert Marquet
Port de Marseille 1923
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Biography |
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At the age of fifteen Marquet arrived in Paris, enrolling first in the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs and then in Gustave Moreau’s studio at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Here he became friends with Rouault and Matisse. He showed his work at the Salon des Indépendants from 1901 and at the Salon d’Automne from 1903. He also passed through the Académie Ranson, where Sérusier taught. |
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By an accident of timing he found his work being shown in the celebrated Cage aux Fauves at the 1905 Salon d’Automne. His association with Fauvism was brief, however, and he broke with the other artists of the group, as his enthusiasm for high colour waned in favour of balanced harmonies and more naturalistic, hardly varying tones. His real love was for travel, and this he did throughout his life, in a long and fruitful search for the right light and subtleties for his particular and individual approach to painting. He never tried to please anyone; he worked as he himself wanted and led an independent life, rejecting the honours he was offered: the Cross of the Légion d’Honneur and membership of the Institut de France. |
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The need to travel dominated the well-documented painting career of this truly free spirit. In 1906 he worked in Normandy with Raoul Dufy in Le Havre and Trouville and in 1907 he stayed with Matisse and Camoin in London. His first solo exhibition was held in 1907 at the Galerie Druet in Paris. He also exhibited in other countries: in 1908 – 1909, Moscow, (Salon de la Toison d’Or), in 1908, Kiev and Odessa, in 1912, Saint Petersburg, (L’Institut Français), and after his death, at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh and in Belgrade in 1960 and Hamburg and Montreal in 1974. |
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The locations where he stayed and painted read like a catalogue of his art. 1905-1907 Paris, 1907 Le Havre, St Jean de Luz, 1908 Paris, Naples, Poissy, 1909 Paris, Hamburg, Naples, 1910 Paris, Villennes, 1911 Paris, Conflans, Honfleur, Tangiers, 1912 Paris, Rouen, Collioure, 1913 Paris, La Varenne, Tangiers, 1914 Paris, Rotterdam, Collioure, 1915 Paris, La Varenne, 1916 Paris, Marseille (Where he then made his home), 1917 Paris, Samois, 1918 Marseille, 1919 Marseille, Herblay, 1920 Algiers, La Rochelle. At this point the diary was taken on by Madame Marquet, who omits Marseille as it was their home. |
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1921 Algiers, Les Sables d’Olonne, 1922 Algiers, Paris, 1923, Sidi Bou Saïd, 1924 Algiers (twice), Les Sables d’Olonne, Sète, Bordeaux, Bayonne, 1925 Bougie, Norway, 1926 La Goulette, Hendaye, 1927Algiers, Rouen, St-Jean-de-Luz, 1928 Aswan, Audierne, Paris, 1929 Paris, Poissy, Algiers, Laghouat, 1930 Boulogne-sur-Mer, 1931 Paris, Triel, 1932 Algiers, Santander, 1933 Galatz, Sulina (Romania), Les Sables d’Olonne, 1934 Russia, Algeria, Le Havre, 1935 Paris, Arcachon, 1936, Paris, Venice, Crans, Davos, 1937 Algiers, Montreux, Méricourt, 1938 Paris, Algiers, Porquerolles, La Frette, 1940 La Frette, Céret, Vernet-les-Bains,Collioure, 1940 – 1945, Algiers, 1945-1946 La Frette, Paris, 1946 La Frette, Paris, Les Grisons, 1947 Paris. Many of these locations had a purpose in providing illustrations for a new edition of Charles Louis Philippe’s novel "Bubu de Montparnasse I" |
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Until 1940, Marquet kept a studio in Paris, and from his fifth floor window on the Quai aux Fleurs, he painted bird’s eye views of the Seine. He never tired of painting the quais and the Pont Neuf, at every hour of the day and every season of the year, creating a different picture every time. |
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Marquet was also an accomplished and detailed figure painter (particularly nudes), draughtsman and watercolour painter. He illustrated a number of books and published portfolios of his engravings. His work, original, disciplined and rich in colour nuances is in most of the principal museums of modern art throughout the world. |
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Exhibitions |
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Museums: Bagnols-sur-Cèze, Besançon, Bordeaux (Musée des Beaux-Arts), Carcassonne (Musée des Beaux-Arts), Epinal (Musée départemental des Vosges), Lausanne (Musée du Canton), Lyon (Musée des Beaux-Arts), Marseille (Musée Cantini), Moscow (Pushkin Museum), Nantes, Paris (Musée National d'Art Moderne - 17 works), Pau (Musée des Beaux-Arts), Quimper (Musée des Beaux-Arts), Rotterdam (Boymans-Van Beuningen Museum), St Petersburg (Hermitage), Washington DC (National Gallery of Art), Winterhur (Museum of Fine Art), Zurich (Art Museum) |
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