Albert Marquet
French·1875–1947
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Albert Marquet (1875–1947) was the quiet master among the Fauves. Born in Bordeaux, he moved to Paris as a teenager to attend the École des Arts Décoratifs, where he met Henri Matisse. The two became lifelong friends. He studied under Gustave Moreau at the École des Beaux-Arts alongside Georges Rouault, absorbing the symbolist master's color sense.
Marquet and Matisse were painting in pure colors as early as 1898, before Fauvism had a name. At the infamous 1905 Salon d'Automne, his work hung alongside Matisse, Derain, and Vlaminck, earning them all the label "Fauves" (wild beasts). Yet Marquet always differed from his friends. While they used violent, intense colors, he preferred grayed yellows, grayed violets, and subtle blues. Black served as a sharp contrast to light rather than being banished from the palette.
After 1907, Marquet alternated between his Paris studio and travels to European coasts and North Africa. Venice and Naples particularly impressed him, with their play of light over water. He painted harbors, rivers, and coastal scenes with a serene naturalism quite different from Fauve intensity. Fleeing the German invasion in 1939, he took refuge in Algeria until war's end. He died suddenly in 1947 from a gall bladder attack and undiagnosed cancer. His work is held at the Musée d'Orsay, the Hermitage, and the Museum of Modern Art.
Notable Works by Albert Marquet
1 painting catalogued with museum locations
Museums with Albert Marquet's Work
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About Albert Marquet
Marquet was a founding member of Fauvism, exhibiting alongside Matisse, Derain, and Vlaminck at the scandalous 1905 Salon d'Automne. However, he used more subdued colors than his colleagues and soon moved toward naturalistic landscapes. His close friendship with Matisse began in student days.
The Musée d'Orsay in Paris and the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris hold important works. The Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Tate in London, and Art Institute of Chicago also display his paintings.
He painted harbors, rivers, and coastlines throughout his life: the Seine in Paris, ports along the Mediterranean, Venice's lagoon, Naples, and Algiers (where he spent winters after 1920). Water fascinated him; he painted it as a flat plane of unified tone rather than impressionist shimmer.
Rather than breaking water into colored reflections, he rendered it as large areas of single, harmonized tone. This radical simplification held the water's surface without illusionistic depth. His economical brushwork captures light on water with remarkable directness, anticipating later abstraction while remaining faithful to observation.
They met as teenagers at Paris's École des Arts Décoratifs and remained lifelong friends despite different artistic directions. As early as 1898, they painted together using pure colors that anticipated Fauvism. After Marquet moved toward naturalism, Matisse called him "our Hokusai," praising his subtle simplification.
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