Etienne Mein (1865-1938) Martigues, The House With A Gendarme's Hat

Soft colors and pastels, the quiet atmosphere of the fishing villages in Provence in the 19th century for this pretty oil on canvas by the Provençal artist Etienne Mein. The work signed at the bottom left is in good condition, it is offered in a modern frame of the American box type which measures 43 cm by 60 cm and 38 cm by 55 cm for the canvas alone. It represents an emblematic house of the famous Venice of Provence, the Maison au Chapeau de Gendarme, in the Ile district, in the heart of Martigues, built in the 18th century, and characteristic by the shape of its "scalloped" gable. A place appreciated by painters and photographers, La Cuisine au beurre was filmed there in 1963, a comic film which brought together Fernandel and Bourvil. Étienne Mein was born on November 27, 1865 in Allauch, in the Bon Rencontre district. His father is employed at the Compagnie de navigation mixte and his grandfather is a former sailor. His parents live in the Panier district in Marseille at 26, rue des Ferrats, a street that will be demolished during the occupation. In 1879, he entered an apprenticeship in the workshop of an engraver, Mr. Gérard, where he remained for three years. He then entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Marseille where he had Dominique Antoine Magaud and Marius Guindon as masters; he will obtain there a 1st price of painting. He gives drawing lessons in various schools in Marseille. He rents a large room on the 3rd floor of a building on the Quai de Rive Neuve, which he transforms into a workshop. He exhibited at the Salon of 1893 in Paris his painting The Grand Father. During his stay in Paris, he discovered the Louvre Museum, which was a source of wonder for him. He became a member of the Society of Marseille Artists in 1896, then of the Society of French Artists in 1900. At the Colonial Exhibition in Marseille in 1906, he presented two paintings Sheep in Provence and Castilian, as well as an etching Portrait of the painter Antoine Vollon. He has a few students, including in 1909 the one he will marry in 1910 and who will give him a son, Jean. He participated in various exhibitions in Narbonne, Carcassonne and Tunis, and in 1920 obtained an honorable mention for Coin de table. In 1914, he moved with his family to a villa located at 9, through Bonvoisins in the Bompard district of Marseille, which he left in 1933 to settle at 24, boulevard Chave. In 1921, he was a drawing and modeling teacher in professional courses, rue des convalescents. In 1921, he was appointed professor at the School of Fine Arts in Marseille. During a stay in the Hyères Islands in 1936, he was seduced by this site and wrote: “Porquerolles in summer, what powerful nature! what strength Works in public collections Digne-les-Bains, Gassendi museum: The Grandfather. Marseille: Museum of Fine Arts: The Artist's Studio Portrait of the painter Torrents painting. Cantini museum: Interior of the Saint-Victor church.