Fernand Salkin (1862-1937) Old Farm La Gavotte District In Marseille

Nice testimony to bucolic and rural life at the gates of Marseille in the 19th century. The work produced by Fernand Salkin, an artist of Belgian origin born in Montélimar, is offered in a channel frame measuring 36 cm by 44.5 cm and 25 cm by 33 cm for the panel alone. It represents an old farmhouse with a pretty light effect on the facade animated by a peasant woman and a few hens. In good condition, it is signed and located on the back. Fernand Salkin enters as a student at the School of Fine Arts in Nîmes. He then became involved in the administration of the Military Health Service, became a commander, and traveled all over France, but also in Algeria and Tonkin. In 1909, he left the health service and retired to Marseilles where he lived until his death. His first exhibition dates from 1903, in Tunis, where “Commander Salkin” exhibited his drawings and watercolors inspired by his travels. He then exhibited at the Salon of French Artists (Paris) of which he became a member in 1918, in Montpellier, Aix-en-Provence, Lyon and Brussels. In 1911-1912, a retrospective of his work entitled “Au pays de Mistral” was produced. He is described as "a vibrant colorist and a painter who has a sense of movement and life" during his exhibition at Georges Petit. In July 1917, he was named an officer of the Legion of Honor; he engaged throughout the First World War as an administrative inspector of the military health service; he produced charcoal drawings bearing witness to the horror of the trenches. In March 1912, he was appointed official painter of the Navy. In May 1921, he was again confirmed as official painter of the Navy, a position he held until 1931. He exhibited in Algiers during the 1920s. He died in Marseilles on January 21, 1937. Works in the Marseille Public Collections , museum of fine arts: Gulf of Sanary or Les Pins de la Cride in Sanary (Var) (1922), oil on canvas, Brazzaville, former palace of the Governor: The Mending of the nets in Martigues (1922), oil on canvas