Pierre Ambrogiani (1907-1985) The Burial Of The Painter Auguste Chabaud

Always audacity, quaintly sculptural material, color and flight for this large oil on canvas by the leader of the Provençal School of the mid-20th century, Pierre Ambrogiani.
The work in excellent condition is presented in a beautiful frame frame Roger Gault (RG) Louis XIV style with degilded patina which measures 104 cm by 89 cm and 81 cm by 65 cm for the canvas alone.
It represents an extraordinary scene, the festive burial of the master Auguste Chabaud, with flowers and Arles (on the right at the top).
On the back, a certificate of Authenticity handwritten on canvas by the artist's daughter.

Self-taught artist, influenced by Seyssaud and Chabaud, he was encouraged in his beginnings by Antoine Serra who lent him his studio.
In 1936, during the inauguration of the Maison de la Culture in Marseille, he met Picasso who became one of his friends (the homage to Picasso 1962);
Caricaturist for the "Radical", he had his first success in 1938 when the Museum of Fine Arts in Marseille bought him a work.
A very popular and particularly colorful character from Marseille, Pierre Ambrogiani is a friend of Marcel Pagnol and Jean Giono. His workshop is located in Cours d'Estienne d'Orves, near the Old Port. He travels the countryside with his car which serves as his studio, painting on the ground. He moved into a studio on the Quai Rive Neuve in Marseille in 1943.
Renowned for his palette of bright colors, he painted landscapes of the South, still lifes of fish. He also engraves many plates to illustrate works.

In 1962, he decorated the Immaculate Conception Church in Marseille with frescoes and stained glass.
We owe him a postage stamp, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, in 1961.
Forced by illness and infirmity to stop painting in 1973, Pierre Ambrogiani died in 1985 and was buried in the Saint-Pierre cemetery in Marseille. His body was transferred to the cemetery of Sault, in the Vaucluse.

Works in Public Collections

    Ajaccio, Palais Fesch (Museum of Fine Arts), Self-portrait
    Avignon, Calvet Museum.
    Châlons-en-Champagne, museum of fine arts and archeology: Le Port, Les Marquisans.
    Châteauneuf-le-Rouge, Arteum contemporary art museum
    Marseille, Museum of Fine Arts: Boats.
    Marseilles, Cantini Museum.
    Marseilles, Regards de Provence Museum.
    Meudon, museum of art and history: The Old Port of Marseille, 19537.
    Montpellier, Fabre Museum.
    Paris, print room of the National Library of France.
    Paris, National Museum of Modern Art.
    Pully, Art Museum.
    Saint-Chamas, Paul-Lafran Municipal Museum, Portrait of René Seyssaud, 1950.
    Saint-Cyprien (Pyrénées-Orientales), The collections of Saint-Cyprien.
    Sète, Paul-Valéry Museum, Bord du Jarret, 1944.
    Toulon, Art Museum.
    Toulouse, National Institute of Applied Sciences


Collective exhibitions

    House of Culture in Marseilles, 1936.
    Autumn Salon, Paris, 1937.
    Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1948.
    Exhibition of bullfighting art presented by the Pena de Bernui, Society of Southern Artists, Palais des arts de Toulouse, 1956
    Salon of painters witnesses of their time, Palais Galliera, Paris, 1957 (theme: Sport; canvas presented: Water skiing 1961 (theme: Wealth of France; canvas presented: The grain does not die), 1963, 1967, 1974.
    Mediterranean navies and ports, Regards de Provence Foundation, Marseille, May-September 2009.
    Corsican painters, Lazaret Ollandini, Ajaccio, October-November 2012.
    Colors and lights, Saint-Cyprien collections, June-August 2017.
    Mediterranean stopovers, Regards de Provence Museum, Marseille, June 2017 - January 2018.
    A like Ambrogiani, B like Baboulène, C like Camoin, or the painters of the Mediterranean, Salle Pierre-Puget, Ollioules, November 2017.

Awards and Recognition

    Menton International Prize, 1951.
    Officer of the Order of Postal Merit, decree of December 17, 1963
    Grand Prize at the Salon of Painters Witnesses of Their Time, 1967, for the painting The Death of the Poet
    Gemmail prize for "painter of light", Tours, 1968, for the painting Procession in Spain