Fernand Van Den Bussche (1892-1975) Tartanes At The Quay

The tartan painter. Provençal by adoption since he was born in Lille, but a great specialist of the seaside, tartanes and fishing boats, at the quay or in the open sea, which he handled with mastery in a generous material, very often on panels allowing him to play with the support and leave beautiful reserves of paint, which gives his works a life, and a particular vibration. The work is offered in a pretty Louis XIV style frame which measures 83 cm by 72 cm and 62 cm by 51 cm for the panel alone. It represents tartanes at the quay, with seated fishermen on board, in the background a bell tower, certainly that of Saint Tropez where the artist had his habits. In excellent condition, it is signed lower left. Born in Lille in 1892, he studied there at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. mobilized in 1914, prisoner in the Baltic, he joined his family who had taken refuge in Marseille after the war. Love at first sight with the city is immediate. He moved to Sausset les Pins and began to paint seascapes. He exhibited in Marseilles in the Moullot and Jouvène galleries. His success arouses the jealousy of local Artists, he suffers from it but ignores them. His favorite subjects are the "boats in Martigues", the tartanes in the Old Port, landscapes of bastides, and multicolored bouquets; After 1945, he moved to the top floor of a building on rue de Rome from where his studio overlooks the Port opposite Notre Dame de La Garde. He painted for more than fifty years with full paste and with a knife for a clientele that remained loyal and attached to him.