Pierre-Albert Marquet

Born Mar. 27, 1875, in Bordeaux; died June 14, 1947, in Paris. French landscape painter. Became a member of the Communist Party of France after World War II.

From 1895 to 1898, Marquet studied under G. Moreau at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1905 and 1907 he associated with the fauvists. However, his cheerful landscapes and portraits were more tranquil than those of the fauvists (for example, July 14 in Le Havre, 1906, private collection, Paris). Marquet’s works executed after 1907 are marked by simplicity of line, clarity of composition, and subtle combinations of soft, grayish color areas. His landscapes, which are mostly representations of the sea, seaports, and rivers in city settings, are balanced in mood and emotionally restrained (The Port of Hamburg, 1909, Hermitage, Leningrad; The St. Michel Bridge in Paris, 1912, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow). Marquet sought to capture the subtleties of nature and its timelessness and serenity. He also attempted to convey the ambience of light and air and the expansiveness of space (usually achieved by using a high vantage point).