ALBERT MARQUET | Temps gris à Venise

Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet, Stockholm (acquired from the artist in June 1937)
Nils Troedsson, Gothenburg (acquired from the above circa 1938)
Jean Walter Collection, France
Galerie L'Obsidienne, Paris (acquired from the above)
Galerie Larock-Granoff, Paris (acquired by circa 1989)
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1989

Paris, Galerie Druet, Venise par Marquet, 1936, no. 1
Stockholm, Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet, Utställning Fransk Konst, 1937, no. 145 (titled Venise) 
Stockholm, Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet, Utställning Albert Marquet, 1938, no. 9 (titled Venise) 
Lausanne, Fondation de l'Hermitage. Donation Famille Bugnion, Albert Marquet. 1875-1947, 1988, no. 89, illustrated in the catalogue (titled Venise) 
Voiron, Musée Mainssieux, Marquet, Mainssieux, 1989, n.n. (titled Venise) 

Louis Vauxcelles, 'Albert Marquet', in Le Monde illustré, 2nd January 1937, no. 4124, p. 17
Francis Jourdain, Marquet, Paris, 1959, illustrated p. 93 (titled Venise)
Jean-Robert Delahaut, 'Le souvenir de Marquet', in Terre d'Europe. Revue internationale pour la défense et l'illustration de l'Europe, April 1964, no. 22 (titled Venise)
Marcelle Marquet, Albert Marquet,  Moscow, 1969, illustrated pl. 46

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After learning in March that he was the artistic focus of the French Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Albert Marquet and his wife Marcelle departed for Venice in the early summer of 1936. Marquet was no stranger to the city, having visited during previous trips to Italy in 1908 and 1909, when Impressionists and their more modern counterparts had flocked to the lagoon to capture its celebrated light and atmosphere. Although initially hesitant to paint during his stay, Marquet ultimately worked through the summer, painting in the early morning and late afternoon to avoid the oppressive Venetian heat. As he noted in a card to friend George Besson, ‘I am beginning to forgive the poor painters who have done so many daubs in Venice’ (From Fauvism to Impressionism, Albert Marquet (exhibition catalogue), Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 2001, p. 97). Painted during the stifling summer of 1936, the present work captures the Campanile of Saint Mark’s and the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute from across the lagoon.

Marquet's serial exploration of views of the city echoed the Impressionists' interest in capturing the distinctive canals and architecture under a variety of atmospheric conditions. As with the Impressionists, Marquet payed particular attention to the effects of light on the urban landscape, applying brushstrokes and experimenting with colour with the goal of bringing the viewer into a fleeting moment. Marquet's interest in depicting the lagoon, in particular, was illustrative of his lifelong affinity for bodies of water as an artistic motif. During his well-travelled career, Marquet and his easels almost always gravitated towards the edges of such bodies, from the ports of Rotterdam to the coastlines of North Africa to the banks of the Seine. The present work illustrates Marquet’s skilful use of soft hues and his facility in simplifying the compositional forms of his works. Muted blocks of colour, capturing the haziness of the Venetian summer, interact with the strong lines of the figures in the foreground. With his quick application of pigment, Marquet moves towards a fragmented description of reality: the water, sky and architecture all economically rendered with the fewest brushstrokes possible. The achievement of atmosphere through simplicity and elimination of ornamentation are quintessential traits of Marquet’s mature work and assert place in the long line of radical French artists finding new ways to depict the city around them.



This work will be included in the forthcoming Marquet Digital Catalogue Raisonné, currently being prepared under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, Inc.