Josué Gaboriaud (1883-1955) Unloading Barrels On The Old Port Of Marseille

This is the work of a painter witness to his time, a masterful work, an important painting, both in terms of format and quality, there is not the shadow of a doubt, it is indeed a question of the work of a great artist. Gaboriaud immerses us in the world of port activity in Marseille at the beginning of the 20th century, that of port workers on the quays. A realistic decor, a vivid representation of the schooners which transported the goods, barrels of oil or wine unloaded by dockers, which only suggested by the painter, reduced to the state of sketches, contrasting with the hyper presence of the ships and wagons which circulated at that time on the Old Port, from the Quai de Rive Neuve to the Arenc and Joliette stations... An important work, by the Charente artist Josué Gaboriaud passing through Marseille in 1929. The work in very good condition is signed and dated (19)29 at the bottom left, it is produced as very often by this painter in oil on paper mounted on a canvas, and offered in a gilded wooden frame carved with 1930s which measures 113 cm by 94 cm and 100 cm by 81cm for the canvas alone. The original frame can be restored by a restorer or changed for a modern frame which would suit it just as well, at the buyer's choice.

Student of Maurice Denis who noticed his precocious talent and alongside whom he worked from the 1900s and had him exhibited alongside the biggest names in painting such as Renoir, Degas, and the Nabis... During this very fruitful period of learning, there are some handwritten notes from Gaboriaud: “the first time I entered Maurice Denis's studio, he received me directly in front of “the Talisman”, the small painting painted by Sérusier under the direction of Gauguin; Denis had framed it himself with a piece of board worked by him with a pocket knife. “If you see a yellow in front,” says Gauguin, “choose the most beautiful one from your palette that can match it. And my goodness, we must admit that “The Talisman” had some good looks; it held together. It was good and it was a new definition. Maurice Denis came to pick me up from a construction site where I was washing a balcony before scraping it and filling it with putty. I had to live and I worked for a house painter. You can well imagine that working in the workshop of a young Master of the moment was of inestimable value to me. Denis quickly informed me of what he expected of me. It was very simple, easy in short. I earned my living in happy conditions and I was extremely lucky to benefit from the advice of a very cultured and intelligent man and a good boss. What memories! …Denis took care of me a lot, without seeming to do so. He displayed before me the collections of photos brought back from Italy and also the collections made by Druet of the work of Cézanne and Gauguin; he was lecturing me and what a lesson! I first met Denis and it was through him that I knew all the others. It is impossible for me to recount the memories, which still perfume my life, without starting with him who introduced me to Sérusier, Gauguin, Cézanne and made me become friends with Roussel, Vuillard, Bonnard and Maillol. His quickly recognized talent allowed him to benefit from the Nabis' interpersonal skills and to exhibit with them from the age of twenty. Gaboriaud quickly finds his own language. Merchants recognized very early on an original personality in his flamboyant but structured and powerful style which quickly emerged from intense and passionate work. In 1911, Druet then Hessel took him under contract, he was 28 years old. At the age of thirty, in 1913, he had his first major personal exhibition at the Galerie Druet, 20, rue Royale. He exhibited sixty-four paintings and drawings there. The exhibition catalog indicates the provenance of some works, loaned by collectors, and not the least: Roussel, Roland Dorgeles, M Denis, Jos Hessel (who directed the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune from 1900). Gaboriaud travels to Europe, accompanied by his brother Abel, who is involved in politics. With him he discovered the Dutch masters of chiaroscuro and the London museums. He is a bulimic who takes life head on, in love with the desire to know everything, to discover everything. Until 1914, this hyperactive person spent boundless energy drawing, engraving, painting, reading, playing sports, without forgetting partying in Montmartre... In 1903, Josué Gaboriaud, who was just twenty years old, was serious and offers Maurice Denis a lithograph representing a Breton village where we recognize the cloisonnism and the flat colors of the Nabi style. He dedicated it to him, with the fervor of a disciple full of gratitude: “To Master Maurice Denis”. In Geneva, at the Petit Palais museum you can see a painting of the same style: Bretons in Pont-Aven. The Angoulême museum has numerous paintings by Gaboriaud, including an anthology piece: La Grande Foire. The Saint-Paul School has a masterpiece: the Stations of the Cross. Collectors who have inherited his works cannot part with them. For what ? Because beyond their plastic beauty, his paintings release such energy that they retain them as a vital part of themselves. We therefore rarely see Gaboriauds in public sales, to the great dismay of a new clientele of young enthusiasts...