Jean-baptiste Arnaud-durbec, Sun Setting Over The Old Port Of Marseille (1852)

JEAN-BAPTISTE ARNAUD-DURBEC (1827 Marseille - 1910 Paris)
Sun Setting on the Old Port of Marseille
1852
Oil on panel
27 × 35 cm
Signed: Arnaud-Durbec
Signed, numbered, located, and dated on the back: n° 331 / 1-9-1852 / Marseille (BdR) / Arnaud Durbec

There is a lovely light on the waves and the two figures on the boat are very moving. Arnaud-Durbec, himself from a family of Marseille fishermen, has expressed a deep feeling in this painting about the Old Port of Marseille and the lives of the local fishers.

In the manuscript catalogue of the works of Arnaud-Durbec, edited by his nephew, Albert Arnaud, the painting is described as:

331. Marine. Sun setting, on the left the fort / St Jean, on the horizon the islands of Frioul in the foreground 2 women / [one] seated on the edge of a boat and looking out at the sea, the other / seated on a basket against the boat, chin resting / on the right hand / very beautiful / dated 1.9.1851

In fact, the nephew made a small mistake, the date written by Arnaud-Durbec himself on the back of the panel is 1852 not 1851.