Albert Marquet

(French, 1875–1947)

Albert Marquet was a French painter known for his subtly colored depictions of landscapes from a window vantage point. Using abbreviated brushstrokes to convey forms, the artist evoked weather and light conditions while retaining a sense of volume and space. His close friend Henri Matisse once compared Marquet's work to the calligraphic simplicity found in the Japanese painter Hokusai. Born on March 27, 1875 in Bordeaux, France, he studied under Gustave Moureau alongside Georges Rouault at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Around this time, Marquet became close friends with Matisse and Raoul Dufy and exhibited with the other Fauves André Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck. Although his palette was never as bright as his cohorts, Marquet’s work benefited from exposure to the abstract organization of colors he saw in their paintings. During his life, he traveled extensively, focusing on waterfronts and vistas around France, Italy, Germany, Scandinavia, and North Africa. The artist died on June 14, 1947 in La Frette-sur-Seine, France. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Tate Gallery in London, and The Museum of Modern Art, among others.