Luc Raphaël Ponson (1835-1904) Fishermen Mending Their Nets In Vallon Des Auffes

Spontaneous and of a first draft this study of the Provençal artist Luc Raphaël Ponson. The work is framed in a gilded frame which measures 40 cm by 54 cm and 27 cm by 41 cm without the frame; in good condition, it is signed lower left, countersigned and titled "fishermen mending their nets in the Vallon des Auffes in Marseille. Renowned for his landscapes of the Provençal coast, Raphaël Ponson is the son of a theater designer who teaches him the rudiments of painting. Then he took lessons at the practical drawing school in Marseille where he was a pupil of Émile Loubon, who taught him to paint landscapes while respecting the local tone. He went to Paris in 1855 and 1856, then in Italy where he completed his training. He then settled permanently in Marseille. He made his debut at the Marseille Salon in 1852, and at the Paris Salon in 1861 with La Châtaigneraie in the vicinity of Chevreuse and Le Château d'If in the harbor of Marseille Works In 1863, he decorated the gallery of private apartments in the new prefecture of Marseille For the decoration of the rooms on the first floor of the Natural History Museum of the Palais Longchamp, Henri-Jacques Espérandieu called on Raphaël Ponson do nt the flexible and brilliant talent would suit perfectly to the execution of this work according to the words of the architect during the presentation of the letter of submission to the city council. In 1867, he decorated the three rooms on the first floor where he painted spectacular natural sites: Niagara Falls, Sea of Ice, Amazonian rainforest and the basaltic caves of Fingal in one of the Hebrides Islands. The most famous room is that of Provence, where Ponson represents different landscapes for each of the small regions of Provence: cork oaks, chestnut trees and strawberry trees for the Var, olive trees and oleanders for the Bouches-du-Rhône, and mulberry trees, almond trees and melons for Vaucluse 2. He also decorates the Rigaud3 café and the Plauchut pastry shop at the top of the Canebière in Marseille. He specializes in the representation of the beaches, creeks and marine shores around Marseille. To distinguish himself from his younger brother, Étienne Aimé Ponson, painter of still lifes, he added his first name to his surname. Present in many regional exhibitions, it obtains several awards. Works in the Aix-en-Provence public collections, Granet museum: Gulf of Bandol. Avignon, Musée Calvet: L'Anse de la Couronne near Martigues. Béziers, Musée des Beaux-Arts: Calanque de Port Pin near Cassis; Evening at the Gulf of Bandol. Carcassonne, Musée des Beaux-Arts: Seaside in Bandol. Cassis, Mediterranean municipal museum: Italian brick in the port of Cassis. Digne-les-Bains, Gassendi museum: The Calanque de Sormiou. Dijon, Musée des Beaux-Arts: Le Château d'If: morning effect 5. Hyères: Coastline in Hyères. Rue de la République, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture hotel. Marseille: Museum of Fine Arts: Morning in Sausset; Cotes de Sormiou; Marine. Musée de la Marine: Charcoal ships in the national basin, 1890. Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture hotel, private apartments: four circular paintings, ordered on 23 May 1866 by the prefect Charlemagne de Maupas to decorate a gallery of his apartments, representative of the districts of Marseille: Le Palais Longchamp; The Rue de la République; Parc Borély; The Pharo. Narbonne, Museum of Art and History: View of Endoume; Nest of gulls at the cove of Port-Miou. Toulon, Art museum: Undergrowth in Sainte-Marguerite. Tours, Musée des Beaux-Arts: Rochers à Cassis.