Joseph Garibaldi (1863 - 1941) — Composition In A Corner Of The Studio, 1885

Composition in a corner of the studio, 1885
Oil on canvas, signed lower right.
66 x 53 cm

Exhibition:
Joseph Garibaldi, Le Midi paix, Musée Regards de Provence, Marseille, March 10 - July 1, 2012, reproduced in the exhibition catalog on p. 62.

Joseph Garibaldi: Immobile Journeys of the South

Joseph Garibaldi was born in Marseille in 1863. He came to painting on the recommendation of Louis Prat, owner of the Marseille company Noilly-Prat for which his father worked. A student of the painter Vollon, the young artist would forge strong bonds of friendship with his son Alexis, which would last after the master's death in 1900.
Joseph Garibaldi exhibited at the Salon des artistes français from 1884 to 1914, where he met with great success. Most often, his works illustrate ports along the Mediterranean coast: La Ciotat, Bandol, Sanary, or Toulon, famous sites and monuments of Provence. But it is to the port of Marseille that the artist is particularly attached and faithful. From his studio on the Quai de Rive-Neuve, Garibaldi never stops exploring the forest of masts that unfolds beneath the windows. A painter of the Old Port, he is also attached to the life of small Provençal villages, particularly in Vaucluse, where his wife was born and where the couple frequently visits. His interest often leads his painter's steps a little away from village life: near a fountain, a road, a religious or ancient monument emblematic of the place but rarely visited. A few characters are busy or strolling around (most often a peasant and an animal), however, the feeling that dominates these compositions is that of a profound tranquility, a solitude tinged with nostalgia, in the tradition of the Félibres. The clarity of the whole, of an almost photographic precision, does not prevent a distancing of the subject, orchestrated by other technical elements such as the framing or the treatment of color and light. These snapshots thus take on a timeless character.
Garibaldi undertook several trips, supported by various patrons: after Venice, in 1895 and 1903, Corsica, in 1889 and 1895, or Savoy and Ariège, he discovered Tunisia in 1907 thanks to a travel grant. He settled after the Great War in Fos-sur-Mer, where he had stayed frequently since the 1910s. Affected by glaucoma in the 1930s, Joseph Garibaldi died in his hometown in 1941. In the last decade, exhibitions in Cassis (Les terres marines de Joseph Garibaldi, 2006) and Marseille (Joseph Garibaldi, le Midi paix, Fondation Regards de Provence, Palais des Arts, 2012) have paid tribute to his work. Portrait of Joseph Garibaldi by Paul Saïn, 1902. Private collection.

Discover more works by this artist on the gallery's website: https://www.galeriepentcheff.fr/fr/peintre-joseph-garibaldi#Bio