Antoine Ferrari (1910-1995) Undergrowth With Red Trees

A passion and large areas of material alternating with streaks applied with a knife or with the back of the brush, but always the color, always the sure gesture of an artist who has thought long and hard about his painting before giving birth to it. This modern work by Antoine Ferrari, the most expressionist of Provençal painters, is offered in a classic Louis XIV style frame which measures 70 cm by 81 cm and 54.5 cm by 65 cm for the canvas alone. A modern frame could perhaps be considered and would suit it just as well. It represents a landscape of undergrowth with large red trees, the title given to the painting by the artist himself (see back). In excellent condition, it is signed lower right.

A student at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Marseille, he renounced the security of his father's tailoring profession. This choice pushes him to break with his family. At seventeen, he left for Paris with two fellow sculptors Morenon and Cadenat. To survive, he worked in a theater decor workshop, which allowed him to take courses at the Beaux Arts in Paris. He exhibited in Marseille in 1928, with the Young Painting of the Moment at Guibert. The following year, he met Pierre Ambrogiani. From 1930, his hometown subsidized his studies in Paris. In 1937, he obtained the Abd-el-Tif Prize, a residency grant which allowed him to spend two years in Algiers; there it acquires its frank expression of color. Furthermore, from his Parisian beginnings, he retains an admiration – notably in such red flashes or green oaths – for Soutine, whose workshop he took over, rue Saint Gothard. The landscape plays a large part in his work as do the seascapes of the Old Port. But he does not neglect the portrait for which he has a predilection. Likewise, large nudes, dazzling bouquets and still lifes are found in each period of his work. His gesture, which after long reflection comes off like a whip, makes him an impulsive painter, undoubtedly the most expressionist of the Contemporary Provençals. Van Dongen, admiring his talent, had him admitted to the Salon d'Automne in 1927.