Pierre Ambrogiani (1907-1985) Naked Women And Satyrs

Surprising richly colored composition by the leader of Marseille artists of the 50s Pierre Ambrogiani...
The work, perhaps a watercolor study for one of the many book illustrations made by the painter, represents characters in motion, naked women fleeing from satyrs.
It is offered under glass in a modern natural wood frame that measures 70.5 cm by 80 cm and 60.5 cm by 47.5 cm for the watercolor at sight.
In good condition, it is signed lower left.
A work with an original subject, lively and cheerful.

A self-taught artist, influenced by Seyssaud and Chabaud, he was encouraged at the beginning by Antoine Serra who lent him his studio.
In 1936, during the inauguration of the Maison de la Culture in Marseille, he met Picasso who became one of his friends (the tribute to Picasso 1962);
A caricaturist for the "Radical", he had his first success in 1938 when the Musée des Beaux Arts in Marseille bought a work from him.
A very popular and particularly colorful figure in Marseille, Pierre Ambrogiani was a friend of Marcel Pagnol and Jean Giono. His studio was located on Cours d'Estienne d'Orves, near the Vieux Port. He traveled the countryside with his car which served as his studio, painting on location. He set up a studio on the Quai Rive Neuve in Marseille in 1943.
Renowned for his brightly coloured palette, he painted landscapes of the south and still lifes of fish. He also engraved many plates to illustrate books.

In 1962, he decorated the church of the Immaculate Conception in Marseille with frescoes and stained glass windows.
He is responsible for a postage stamp, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, in 1961.
Forced by illness and infirmity to stop painting in 1973, Pierre Ambrogiani died in 1985 and was buried in the Saint-Pierre cemetery in Marseille. His body was transferred to the Sault cemetery in Vaucluse.

Works in Public Collections

Ajaccio, Palais Fesch (Museum of Fine Arts), Self-portrait
Avignon, Musée Calvet.
Châlons-en-Champagne, Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology: Le Port, Les Marquisans.
Châteauneuf-le-Rouge, Arteum Museum of Contemporary Art
Marseille, Museum of Fine Arts: Barques.
Marseille, Cantini Museum.
Marseille, Regards de Provence Museum.
Meudon, Museum of Art and History: Le Vieux Port de Marseille, 19537.
Montpellier, Fabre Museum.
Paris, Print Room of the National Library of France.
Paris, National Museum of Modern Art.
Pully, Museum of Art.
Saint-Chamas, Municipal Museum Paul-Lafran, Portrait of René Seyssaud, 1950.
Saint-Cyprien (Pyrénées-Orientales), The Collections of Saint-Cyprien.
Sète, Paul-Valéry Museum, Bord du Jarret, 1944.
Toulon, Museum of Art.
Toulouse, National Institute of Applied Sciences

Group exhibitions
Maison de la culture de Marseille, 1936.
Salon d'automne, Paris, 1937.
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1948.
Exhibition of bullfighting art presented by Pena de Bernui, Society of Southern Artists, Palais des arts de Toulouse, 1956
Salon of painters who witness their time, Palais Galliera, Paris, 1957 (theme: Sport; canvas presented: Water skiing 1961 (theme: Riches of France; canvas presented: The grain does not die), 1963, 1967, 1974.
Mediterranean seascapes and ports, Fondation Regards de Provence, Marseille, May-September 2009.
Corsican painters, Lazaret Ollandini, Ajaccio, October-November 2012.
Colors and lights, The collections of Saint-Cyprien, June-August 2017.
Mediterranean Stopovers, Musée Regards de Provence, Marseille, June 2017 - January 2018.
A for Ambrogiani, B for Baboulène, C for Camoin, or the Painters of the Mediterranean, Salle Pierre-Puget, Ollioules, November 2017.
Awards and Distinctions
International Menton Prize, 1951.
Officer of the Order of Postal Merit, decree of December 17, 1963
Grand Prize of the Salon of Painters Witnesses of Their Time, 1967, for the painting The Death of the Poet
Gemmail Prize for “Painter of Light”, Tours, 1968, for the painting Procession in Spain.