20th-century still life painting of violet iris flowers in a vase by Pierre Marseille 22½" x 19¼"

Dating from the twentieth century, a charming oil-on-canvas still life painting of violet and white iris flowers in a vase by Pierre Marseille. Note the pretty gilt frame and artist's signature in the lower left corner by the vase. A lovely addition to add a touch of floral French charm to your walls.

About the artist:

Pierre Marseille was a French artist, born in Marseille on 1 June, 1896 and died in Uchaux (just north of Avignon) on 10 March, 1976. He had a predisposition for painting very early on. It was already found in 1914 at the Salon des artistes Provençaux. After the war he moved to Montparnasse where he worked with painters like Modigliani, Soutine, Kisling, Friesz, etc. In 1922 he was on the walls of the Salon des Indépendants and became friends with Pascin. It brings a luminous side of Provence that is “tender” and “fluid” and recovers from Cézanne a “modulation” visible at the Salon d'Automne. In 1928 he was noticed by André Salomon and met Auguste Chabaud.

The state will acquire one of his paintings at the Salon d'Automne, it then enters the collections of the Luxembourg Museum at the same time as Camoin, Chabaud, Seyssaud, etc... He exhibits at the Jouvène gallery with Olive and Signac. It was the time of the confirmation and maturity of his art and the beginning of a Marseille resonance. He uses the tradition of Provençal painters from the end of the 19th century. In 1933 during events at the Tuileries and then at the Galerie Charpentier he was chosen to represent the “painters of the French provinces” his view of Provence brings modernism and a lively side that we could contemplate on the regional art of the 18th century.

From 1935/36 he was purchased by the collections of the British Museum and gained recognition in Marseille through the acquisition of his paintings for the Palais Longchamp, the Cantini Museum, the Prefecture and the Town Hall. From 1942 his painting was regularly associated with that of Chabaud, Seyssaud, Cornu and the sculptor Wacquiez under the surname “Club des cinq” which the Jouvène gallery gave him. During his lifetime he was a painter whose path was affirmed and where nature remained his main favorite subject. His work becomes deeper and more fleshed out, it carries within it the noble rhythm, the powerful harmony, the restful balance of a high-class style to which Pierre Marseille always remains attached. In March 1946 he was present at Lyon Galerie Folklore, alongside other painters from Marseille and Provence including Seyssaud, Chabaud, Ambrogiani, Toncin, Pappart.

This exhibition shows the serious development of the artist's work, painter of spring atmospheres, referring to nature which remains his main subject, it appears to him rich in all its sap and it is by sometimes austere means, always discreet and devoid of artifice, which he achieves this amalgam of grandeur and gentleness which is his true strength. In 1951 one of his paintings was acquired by the City of Paris during the Menton Biennale. The 1950s were conducive to numerous collective and personal exhibitions, decorated in 1962 by the Order of Arts and Letters.

Sources: BENEZIT: Dictionary of painters, sculptors, engravers, designers... » Gründ editions, 1999 ALAUZEN: Dictionary of painters and sculptors of Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur. New edition by Laurent Noet, Editions Jeanne Laffitte; Marseilles; 2006. Personal documentation given by the painter's family.