Jean-claude Quilici (1941-) Path In The Alpilles

Sober colors organizing powerful contrasts between mineral and plant, orchestrated by broad brush strokes and knives. This landscape of Provence by the Marseille artist Jean-Claude Quilici could be the illustration of a novel by Jean Giono, that of a serious and austere Provence. In its good original condition, the work is presented in a gilded frame from the 1930s which measures 51 cm by 68 cm and 38 cm by 55 cm for the canvas alone. It represents a path between white rocks and rows of black cypresses in the Alpilles mountains near the famous Baux de Provence. An intense and modern work. It is signed lower left, countersigned, numbered and titled “chemin aux Alpilles” on the back.

Very young, he attended the School of Fine Arts, and after approaching the great Masters of Provençal Painting, he exhibited his first paintings in his city from 1958. Between 1960 and 1970, he received numerous Painting Prizes, which crowned his beginnings as a young painter, and during this period, exhibitions of his works were organized in multiple galleries in France. From 1971, it was the United States that welcomed him: Washington, New York, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Albuquerque… In 1980 Jean Claude Quilici began his career in Japan: from Tokyo to Osaka via Kōbe, Shizuoka, Fukuoka, Nagano, Sapporo… all these cities organize exhibitions and give him a warm welcome. For 30 years, his lithographic works and paintings have been permanently present in Japan. Jean Claude Quilici did not, however, neglect France. His work is regularly exhibited in the most important galleries in Marseille, Toulon, Ajaccio, Lyon, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Dijon, Nancy, Cannes, Saint-Tropez. The artist is also pursuing a career abroad: the United States, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, etc. During his career, he was also invited to create various works such as monumental frescoes for the University of Corte (Corsica), 40 m long and 4 m high, and for the Marseille City Metro. A wall decoration on enameled sheet metal with a length of 130 m… In 1997, the artist created the sets for the opera Mireille by Gounod for a co-production of the Marseille Opera and the Bordeaux Opera.