ALBERT MARQUET (Bordeaux, 1875 – Paris, 1947) Attributed - View of Venice

Descriptio Oil on rigid cardboard. Dimensions: 73 x 50.5 cm. Frame: 92 x 69 cm. Albert Marquet was one of the most singular figures of French Post-Impressionism and one of the most prominent members of the Fauvist circle, although he soon developed his own style characterized by greater chromatic restraint and a special sensitivity towards cityscapes, ports, and seascapes. This work depicts a view of the entrance to the Grand Canal in Venice with the monumental silhouette of the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute dominating the horizon. Its attribution to the French artist is based on a series of stylistic characteristics fully consistent with his Italian production of 1908-1909, a period corresponding to his first trip to Italy with Henri Manguin. Although traditional scholarship has focused primarily on Marquet’s Venetian sojourns in the 1930s, more recent research has confirmed his presence in Venice as early as 1908 and 1909, dates with which this painting shares a remarkable stylistic affinity. The composition features a reduced and nuanced palette, dominated by softly modulated shades of gray, blue, and pink, moving away from the intense chromatism of early Fauvism and heralding the artist’s mature pictorial style. The expansive water surfaces are rendered with serene yet vibrant textures, while the boats appear synthesized with a rapid, almost calligraphic brushstroke. The humid, diffuse atmosphere, the simplification of architectural masses, and the ability to dissolve forms into mist are characteristic features of Marquet’s work from 1907 to 1910. The view also presents a distinctly Marquetian composition, with a high horizon, diagonal movement of boats, and a quiet architectural monumentality that organizes the entire pictorial space. These characteristics find close parallels with Italian works from the same period, such as *La Baie de Naples*, *Le Port de Naples*, and *Le Vésuve*, where the artist develops identical chromatic and compositional solutions. Unlike the Impressionists, Marquet does not pursue the changing effects of light or the analysis of reflection, but rather the serene balance of surfaces and the essential structure of the landscape—qualities that find a particularly suitable setting in Venice. Stylistically, the work is difficult to relate to his production of the 1920s and 1930s, which was much more synthetic and refined, instead displaying the qualities characteristic of this transitional period in which the artist gradually abandoned the Fauvist style to develop his definitive approach. It should also be noted that an examination of the edges of the support suggests that the cardboard may have been trimmed at the top and bottom, a circumstance that could explain the absence of a visible signature. Batch in international warehouse (within the EU).Intra-community shipment: no import duties apply within the EU. An export permit from the country of origin may be required.

Estimate:£16,790

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