ALBERT MARQUET (1875–1947)
Jebel Bou Korbous (401 m - 1314 ft)
Tunisia
In Paysage de Sidi Bou Said, watercolour, 1923, Private collection
The hill
Jebel Bou Korbous (401 m - 1314 ft) is a mountain located in the Korbous massif, east of Jebel Douela and west of El Bredj, in the Gulf of Tunis in Tunisia. It can be seen from the hill of Sidi Bou Saïd (like in thus painting). From Tunis, in good weather conditions, one can easily see these mountains that flow into the sea on the other side of the Gulf of Tunis, home to several hot springs.
Many activities are possible: hiking, swimming, diving, hydrotherapy ... Particularity of the massif: tiny caves formed in the sandstone blocks. Under the effect of wind and rain, some blocks partially disintegrated, forming these small natural shelters.
The painter
Albert Marquet was a French painter, associated with the Fauvist movement. He initially became one of the Fauve painters and a lifelong friend of Henri Matisse. In 1890 Marquet moved to Paris to attend the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs, where he met Henri Matisse. They were roommates for a time, and they influenced each other's work. Marquet began studies in 1892 at the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris under Gustave Moreau, the famous symbolist artist. In 1905 he exhibited at the Salon d'Automne. Dismayed by the intense coloration in these paintings, critics reacted by naming the artists the "Fauves", i.e. the wild beasts. Although Marquet painted with the fauves for years, he used less bright and violent colours than the others, and emphasized less intense tones made by mixing complementaries, thus always as colors and never as grays.
From 1907 to his death, Marquet alternated between working in his studio in Paris (a city he painted a lot of times) and many parts of the European coast and in North Africa. He was most involved with Algeria and Algiers and Tunisia. He remained also impressed particularly with Naples and Venice where he painted the sea and boats, accenting the light over water. During his voyages to Germany and Sweden he painted the subjects he usually preferred: river and sea views, ports and ships, but also cityscapes.
Matisse said ; "When I look at Hokusai, I think of Marquet—and vice versa ... I don't mean imitation of Hokusai, I mean similarity with him".
by Francis Rousseau
