Adolphe Monticelli

Adolphe Monticelli , 1824-86, French painter. He worked in Paris and, after 1870, in his native Marseilles. Influenced by Watteau and Delacroix, he portrayed subjects usually of a festive or exotic nature. He has been regarded as a prophet of abstract expressionism because of his free use of dazzling colors applied with a heavy impasto. His work is best represented in Lille and Marseilles. The museums of Boston, Chicago, New York City, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C., have examples of his painting. The Fête Châmpetre (Brooklyn Mus.) is characteristic.

Monticelli, Adolphe (1824–86). French painter, active in his native Marseilles and in Paris. He was a pupil of Paul Delaroche, but he learned more from his studies of Old Masters in the Louvre; he was also influenced by his friends Delacroix and Diaz de la Peña. His subjects included landscapes, portraits, still lifes, fêtes galantes in the spirit of Watteau, and scenes from the circus, painted in brilliant colours and thick impasto that influenced van Gogh. He enjoyed great success in Paris in the 1860s, but after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 he returned to Marseilles and led a retiring life. His work is represented in many French museums, and he has been much forged.