Antique Mediterranean seascape - Fernand Van den Busche (1892-1975) - 9½" x 16½"

Dating from the mid-twentieth century, this superb coastal painting is signed in the lower right, Van Den Busche (1925-2001). A sailing boat is moored near the Mediterranean shoreline at sunrise. This peaceful painting has a lovely composition and perspective and very pretty light. It is painted with a palette knife on board.

Fernand Van den Busche (1892-1975) was born in Lille in 1892, he studied at the School of Fine Arts there. Mobilized in 1914 and taken prisoner in the Baltic, he joined his family, who had taken refuge in Marseille, after the war. He immediately fell in love with the city. Settling in Sausset-les-Pins, he began painting seascapes. He exhibited at the Moullot and Jouvène galleries in Marseille. His success caused jealousy among local artists, which he suffered but ignored.

His favorite subjects were "boats at Martigues," tartanes in the Old Port, countryside landscapes, and colorful floral bouquets. After 1945, he moved to the top floor of a building on Rue de Rome, where his studio overlooked the Port facing Notre-Dame de la Garde. He painted with thick impasto and a palette knife for over fifty years, attracting a loyal clientele.