Jean-baptiste Olive (1848-1936) The Harbor Of Cassis

Cassis, one of the most sought-after subjects by collectors of Provencal paintings created by the leader of the Marinist painters of the Marseille School, Jean-Baptiste Olive. The artist presents us here with a superb and luminous view of the Harbor of Cassis seen from the famous Roches Blanches. A harmonious palette of colors, including the famous touches of purple in the sea that Olive loved, as well as an energetic and gestural touch giving movement to the clouds. Made in oil on canvas, it is in good condition, only a few normal cracks for a work from this period. It is offered in a magnificent Louis XV style gilded frame which measures 78 cm by 96 cm and 54 cm by 73 cm for the canvas alone. The work is signed lower right.

Jean-Baptiste Olive was encouraged by a decorator friend, Étienne Cornellier, to enroll at the Marseille School of Fine Arts, where his teacher was Johanny Rave (1827-1882). His work earns him awards every year and a first prize for the live model class. He learned the trade of decorator. He painted Marseille, its Old Port, its islands and its shores extensively. In 1874, he traveled to Italy, to Genoa and Venice. He exhibits occasionally at the various Provençal Salons. He has a deep humility about his talent and did not feel the desire to transmit his knowledge to any student. However, Jean-Baptiste Olive left as many critics and gallerists as friends perplexed, fascinated by the contrast between a dazzlingly clear painting and a painter with a complex and introverted personality. He was able to carve out a place of honor in the lives and hearts of the people he met during his career and many patrons supported him. In 1948, ten years after his death, the Cantini Museum in Marseille dedicated the exhibition to him to mark the centenary of his birth by presenting eighty-two works from his vast artistic career. Its presence dominates this maritime landscape movement. He became friends with Gustave Marius Jullien (1825-1881), Étienne Cornellier and Antoine Vollon. He frequented Robert Mols and became friends with Raymond Allègre and Théophile Henri Décanis. In Paris, he participated in the decoration of the Cirque d'Hiver, the Sacré-Cœur basilica of Montmartre and some pavilions of the Universal Exhibition of 1889. From 1874, he participated in the Paris Salon and won several prizes during of the following years. He became a member of the Salon of French Artists in 1881 and received a silver medal at the Universal Exhibition of 1889. General Malesherbes bought paintings from him. In 1900, he received the order for two paintings to decorate the Golden Room of the restaurant Le Train bleu at the Gare de Lyon in Paris. Works in the Public Collections Athens, National Gallery: The surroundings of Saint Cyr, 1914, oil on canvas, 111 × 158 cm; Mistral, oil on canvas, 46 × 60 cm Mistral in Marseille, oil on canvas, 89 × 130 cm Shore in Marseille, oil on canvas, 46 × 60 cm Béziers, museum of fine arts: Still life with fruits, 1872, oil on Web. Colmar, Haut-Rhin prefecture: Le Soir, harbor of Villefranche, 1893, pen, Indian ink, scratch map. Study for the painting exhibited at the Salon of 1893, 20 × 18.4 cm. Le Havre, André Malraux Museum of Modern Art: La Falaise, oil on canvas, 14.5 × 23.7 cm Marseille: Cantini museum: Carry-le-Rouet, before 1917, oil on canvas, 27 × 35 cm Wreck of the Navarre, near Carry, before 1917, oil on canvas, 39 × 48 cm Storm, before 1917, oil on canvas, 36.5 × 73 cm Grobet-Labadié museum: A Wave, oil on canvas, 15 × 22 .5 cm Museum of the Navy and the Economy: Quai auxhuiles. Marseille Museum of Fine Arts: La Corniche in Marseille, oil on canvas, 172 × 245 cm La Salute in Venice, oil on canvas, 49 × 65 cm Marine, oil on canvas, 65 × 92 cm Paris: Department of Graphic Arts from the Louvre Museum, Landscape, scratch cardboard, Indian ink Gare de Lyon: Large fresco of the Gare de Lyon, 1900, oil on mounted canvas. Le Train bleu restaurant, golden room: The Old Port of Marseille, 1900, oil on canvas; Saint-Honorat, 1901, oil on canvas. Toulon, art museum: Port of Toulon, 1878, oil on canvas, 90 × 83 cm Port of Marseille, 1880, oil on wood, 32 × 25 cm, this small painting bears a dedication to Jean Aicard dated May 3, 1880 and located in Paris Calanque d'en Vau, oil on canvas, 73 × 60 cm Brazil, São Paulo, art museum: Seascape with rocks, 47 × 64.5 cm Tribute Knight of the Legion of Honor on January 20 1899, promoted to Officer on August 12, 1923 A street in Marseille bears his name. Exhibitions Paris, Universal Exhibition of 1889 (silver medal). 1948, Cantini museum in Marseille, exhibition celebrating the centenary of the birth of Jean-Baptiste Olive, 82 works presented. 2008, Geneva (Switzerland), Galerie Bartha et Senarclens welcomes the Marc Stammegna gallery from June 6 to July 31, 2008, “These painters of Provence”, collective exhibition of 22 painters including Jean-Baptiste Olive, Frédéric Montenard, Louis Valtat and Félix Ziem. From September 26, 2008 to January 25, 2009, Palais des Arts in Marseille, “Jean-Baptiste Olive – Prism of Light”, organized by the Regards de Provence Foundation.