Marcel Arnaud (1877-1956), The Pine Wood, Oil On Panel, Signed, Framed

Marcel ARNAUD, a painter from Aix at heart, inspired by Cézanne, was a student of Maistre at the Marseille School of Fine Arts and apprenticed with the decorators Apy & Partol. He moved to Paris at the age of 18. He then worked with Capezat and Thibé, created theater sets for Jusseaume while studying the old masters at the Louvre, notably Rembrandt. Nostalgic for his hometown, he returned to Marseille where he married in 1904. He exhibited in the regional Salons (gold medal in Toulon in 1902) and belonged to the "Cénacle" group. In 1912, he presented sixty works at the Jules Olive gallery. In 1914, he was appointed professor at the Ecole des Beaux-arts d'Aix-en-Provence, then director from 1917 to 1946. At the same time, he was assistant curator at the Musée Granet in 1922, then curator from 1926 to 1947. These activities did not prevent him from painting: he exhibited at the Galerie Detaille in Marseille in 1924 and at the Cercle Athéna-Sextia in Aix-en-Provence in 1928; he held his last solo exhibition in December 1955, three months before his death. His works, in particular his Provençal landscapes, are constructed with a Cézanian rigor and in a clear expressionism with multiple variations. Expedition possible