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Monticelli was admired by the young Cézanne, and later provided great inspiration for Van Gogh. Though some may no longer appreciate Monticelli’s aesthetic, his materials and techniques are of interest today because of their influence on these important figures. Study of the works in the National Gallery Collection, which span the 1870s and 80s, has shown an extraordinary consistency in the artist’s choice of pigments, so much so that two ‘fakes’ are thought to have been identified. The artist can be seen to favour a very specific palette which includes old fashioned pigments, such as verdigris in preference to viridian, possibly due to his interest in emulating Old Master painting.
Monticelli is said to have been a loyal user of Lefranc paints and systematic sampling of his relatively simple pigment mixtures allows inferences to be made regarding the possible content of the tube paints he was using and the influence commercial paint formulations had on artists’ working in the second half of the nineteenth century.
By contrast to his use of ready prepared tube paints, Monticelli, who suffered poverty throughout this period, does not appear to have used commercially produced supports. His works at the National Gallery are all on unprimed, re-used panels probably made from old furniture. Limited organic analysis has also been undertaken on his paintings and this suggests that the artist may have sealed the panels prior to painting and mixed additional medium into his tube paints. Several of his works have marked drying defects and this also has consequences for their conservation.
Monticelli was born in Marseille in humble circumstances. He attended the École Municipale de Dessin in Marseille from 1842 to 1846, and continued his artistic training in Paris, where he studied under Paul Delaroche at the École des Beaux-Arts. In Paris he made copies after the Old Masters in the Louvre, and admired the oil sketches of Eugène Delacroix. In 1855 he met Narcisse Diaz, a member of the Barbizon school, and the two often painted together in the Fontainebleau Forest. Monticelli frequently adopted Diaz's practice of introducing nudes or elegantly costumed figures into his landscapes.
He developed a highly individual Romantic style of painting, in which richly colored, dappled, textured and glazed surfaces produce a scintillating effect. He painted courtly subjects inspired by Antoine Watteau; he also painted still life's, portraits, and Orientalist subjects that owe much to the example of Delacroix.
After 1870, Monticelli returned to Marseille, where he lived in poverty despite a prolific output, selling his paintings for small sums. An unworldly man, he dedicated himself single-mindedly to his art.
The young Paul Cézanne befriended Monticelli in the 1860s, and the influence of the older painter's work can be seen in Cézanne's work of that decade. Between 1878 and 1884 the two artists often painted landscapes together, once spending a month roaming the Aix countryside. Although Monticelli experimented briefly around 1870 with a treatment of light reflecting the discoveries of the Impressionists, he found the objectivity of this approach uncongenial.
Adolphe Monticelli: The Materials and Techniques of an Unfashionable Artist. Kate Stonor and Rachel Morrison. Technical Bulletin Volume 33, 2012. The National Gallery. NG200.
Auction History:
Christie's Don Quixote tilting at the windmills. Price realised GBP 17,640 Estimate GBP 10,000 – GBP 15,000 Closed 13th Jul 2023
The National Gallery of Art. 6th St and Constitution Ave NW. Return from the Hunt.
The Musee-Orsay.France. Adolphe Monticelli: Ref: 18567.
Palais Dorotheum. 1010 Wien, Dorotheergasse 17. Lot 526 09.11.2020 Realized price: EUR 7,680-USD 8,500 .- Estimate: EUR 6,000.- to EUR 8,000.- USD 6,600 .- to USD 8,800 .
Bruges, Belgium. Quatre Figures Dans Un Parc. £21000.
Sotheby's Lot 139 Au bord de la rivière, Marseilles Signed Monticelli (lower left). André Collection, Paris (acquired directly from the artist) Jacques Dubourg, Paris Acquired from the above on May 12, 1971 Estimate: 60000-80000 USD.
Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers. 15th Sep, 2021. Lot 588. A group of figures by a waterfall in a forest glade. £1000
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