Marquet, Albert

Marquet, Albert (1875–1947). French painter and draughtsman, born in Bordeaux. In 1890 he settled in Paris, where he studied at the École des Arts Décoratifs (he became a lifelong friend of his fellow student Matisse) and later at the École des Beaux-Arts. With Matisse he became one of the Fauves and for a time his boldness of colour almost matched that of his friend. However, he soon abandoned Fauvism and developed a comparatively naturalistic style. He painted some fine portraits and did a series of powerful female nudes (1910–14), but he was primarily a landscapist. His favourite—eventually almost exclusive—themes were ports and the bridges and quays of Paris, subjects he depicted with unaffected simplicity and great sensitivity of tone. He was also an outstanding draughtsman; his rapid brush drawings have an economy and vigour recalling the work of Oriental masters ( Matisse called him ‘our Hokusai'). From 1925 he painted mainly in watercolour. Marquet travelled extensively and built up an international reputation, but he refused all awards, including the Legion of Honour, and lived very quietly (he was timid in personality, perhaps partly because he was short-sighted and had a limp). His work is particularly well represented in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux.