"Marine, Shipwreck. François Gautier, Provençal School. "
François Gautier studied at the Jesuit college before joining the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Marseille and being awarded a medal there. There he rubbed shoulders with the masters Emile Loubon, Jean-Baptiste Olive and Adolphe Monticelli. He exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1866 to 1870 but the war put an end to it. He was appointed official painter of the navy in 1910. A friend of the patron and collector Jules Cantini (whose name a Marseille museum bears), he devoted his entire life to painting. His favourite themes were seascapes which he painted from the coast or directly on his boat as well as landscapes of Provence in the Aix countryside near Gardanne where he lived. 
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