Jacques Martin Ferrières (1893 - 1972) — Versailles, Petit Trianon, The Staircase Under The Snow

Versailles, Petit Trianon, the staircase under the snow
Oil on canvas, signed lower left.
65 x 81 cm

Jacques Martin-Ferrières: A life of painting, travel and light

The fourth son of the painter Henri Martin, Jacques Martin-Ferrières learned from his father at an early age. After studying chemistry, he devoted himself definitively to his passion for painting, learning about the requirements of pigments and preparing his own colors. He began with interior decorations and portraits of women, against a backdrop of large, expressive landscapes. Curious about everything, a musician - he excelled in cello and piano - he enjoyed going to theaters and concerts, where he sketched face after face with a firm, facetious pencil. His first exhibitions at the Salon (1920, 1923) were a success.
In 1924, he won a grant that opened the door to his traditional trip to Italy: he painted Venice, Florence, Rome, Assisi, etc. He acquired a taste for travel, and from then on, he spent his life criss-crossing Europe - Spain, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Scotland, Holland, Germany, Switzerland - traveling in summer, brush in hand whenever a motif caught his eye, and in winter in his studio, nourishing his works with the experience of travel. This colorist was also often drawn to flowers, either in the garden, planted for future compositions, or in bouquets gathered for the studio.
In 1928, he undertook the decoration of the St Christophe de Javel church in Paris. The success of this project led to further commissions in St-Ouen, Romans-sur-Isère, Montauban and St Louis in Marseille.
The war put the brakes on this magnificent momentum. Jacques gradually lost the use of one of his eyes as a result of the brutalities he had to endure: the painter did not reappear until 1956, but the great compositions in which his vitality, his talent and his warm but always slightly mocking gaze had been so well expressed were over. However, he began to travel again, notably to the United States, where he exhibited regularly.
Until his death he would paint, until his death he would exhibit. Today, Martin-Ferrières' landscapes and flowers keep us company with as much life, warmth and color as if he were about to enter the room.

Discover more works by this artist on the gallery's website: https://www.galeriepentcheff.fr/fr/peintre-jacques-martin-ferrieres#Oeuvres