Antoine Ponchin (1872-1934) Saint Genest Church On The Gallifet Canal In Martigues

The almost unreal light and the effect of an open window on the Martigues of the early 20th century by the local boy Antoine Ponchin, a great specialist in this subject that he masters on the tips of his brushes. The work is done in oil on canvas, it is signed lower right and it is offered in a gilded carved wooden frame that measures 68 cm by 79 cm and 54 cm by 65 cm for the canvas alone. It represents the Church of Saint Genest in the Jonquières district on the Gallifet Canal in the famous "Little Venice of Provence" A sweetness of life, the charm and tranquility of fishing villages at the end of the 19th century emerge from this luminous, anecdotal and high-quality work that will delight collectors who love the colors and traditions of Provence. Antoine Ponchin is the son of the painter Joseph Marius Ponchin and Françoise Élisabeth Victorine Moulin. His own son, Joseph Henri Ponchin, will also be a painter. Antoine Ponchin was a student of Théophile Henri Décanis (1847-1917), Julien Gustave Gagliardini (1846-1927) and Jean-Baptiste Olive (1848-1936). He exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français from 1893 to 1933 and received an honorable mention in 1904 (Vieux Moulin sur le Morin), a 3rd class medal and the Raigecourt-Goyon prize in 1906 (Soleil du soir, étang de Berre and Paysage), then a 2nd class medal in 1910 (Cyprès de Provence and Étang de Carronte). He also attended the Salon des Indépendants from 1904 to 1906 (Canal aux Martigues, Matin, 1904: Pin à Golfe Juan, 1905. Une rue à Picquigny, Somme 1906), as well as the Exhibitions of Marseille Artists. After participating in the International Maritime Exhibition of 1907 in Bordeaux, the Colonial Exhibition of Marseille in 1922 and having been awarded the Indochina Prize the same year, he was sent on a mission to Hanoi by the Ministry of Colonies from October 4, 1922 to May 6, 1923. His son Jos Henri accompanied him and together they decorated the Albert-Sarraut high school in Hanoi. The success of his mission allowed him to be proposed by the Minister of Colonies for the rank of Knight of the Legion of Honor. He died on December 15, 1933 in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. Works in public collections Chambéry, Museum of Fine Arts: Marine. Nîmes, Museum of Fine Arts: Houses on the Water Rouen, Museum of Fine Arts: View of Venice. Distinction · Antoine Ponchin was named a knight in the National Order of the Legion of Honor in 1923.