Boats Along The Coast Near Marseille. François Gautier. 1903.

François Gautier studied at the Jesuit college before joining the École des Beaux-Arts in Marseille and earning a medal there. There, he rubbed shoulders with masters such as Emile Loubon, Jean-Baptiste Olive, and Adolphe Monticelli. He exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1866 to 1870, but the war put an end to this. He was appointed official painter of the navy in 1910. A friend of the patron and collector Jules Cantini (whose name a Marseille museum bears), he devoted his entire life to painting. His favorite themes were seascapes, which he painted from the coast or directly on his boat, as well as landscapes of Provence in the Aix countryside near Gardanne, where he lived.