Louis Nattero (1870-1915) Ships In The Old Port

A beautiful document of undeniable historical value is presented here by the Marseilles painter Louis Nattero (1870-1915). The artist bears witness to the port activity, depicting workers on barges unloading beams on the right of the painting, and on the left, docked in front of the famous bell tower of the Old Accoules district, the large steamships and sailing vessels that once moored in the Old Port upon arrival or departure from their distant voyages. The work is presented in a gilt frame with fluting, measuring 60 cm by 79 cm, while the canvas itself measures 44 cm by 61 cm. In good condition, with only two small, old restorations on the back, it is signed in the lower left corner.

Louis Alexandre Marie Nattero was born on October 16, 1870 in Marseille, 1 rue du Pharo, from the second marriage of Dominique Nattero with Jeanne Joussaume. His parents quickly separated in 1872 and, in 1880, Louis was placed in an orphanage. Passionate about drawing, he He produced his first works around the age of 11: portraits that he managed to sell in order to survive. After an unhappy childhood, he turned to painting. In 1891, in Toulon, he married Lucie Durbec with whom he had nine children. His son, Joseph Nattero, born in Marseille in 1904, followed in his father's footsteps and painted all his life. At the age of 26, from October 1896 to April 1897, thanks to a scholarship from the city of Toulon, he attended the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in Paris for a few months, where he was a student of Léon Bonnat. However, he suffered from lead poisoning and was reluctantly forced to stop his Parisian studies. He then returned to Toulon, then settled permanently in Marseille, his hometown, in 1904. He also stayed in Aix-en-Provence. His talent was quickly recognized and his paintings were a great success from 1905 onwards. He participated in most of the exhibitions in the Marseille and Toulon region and worked hard to feed his large family. In Toulon, he exhibited, among others, at the framer Lacqua (31 rue d'Alger) and at the Albano Gallery (rue des Trois Dauphins). In 1902, he attended the Friends of the Arts exhibition in Toulon, where he won several prizes. In Marseille, his studio was located on Boulevard de la Corderie, and his works were regularly featured at the Vallet Gallery on Rue Paradis.
He exhibited at the Salon de l'Association des Étudiants and at the Grand Cercle Républicain in 1905.
In 1914, war broke out, and three of his sons left for the front.
His paintings no longer sold. A deep despair gripped him.
On November 10, 1915, at his home at 42 bd Joachim in Marseille, he took his own life by shooting himself in front of his son Joseph.
After a ceremony at the church in Bonneveine, he was buried in the common grave in the Mazargues cemetery.
The day after his death, Le Petit Marseillais launched a collection to help Sauveuve and his children. In the Pointe Rouge district, Marseille city hall named a roundabout after him. In 2004, the Musée du Vieux Toulon organized an exhibition: "Louis Nattero (1870-1915) - Victor Senchet (1879-1973), painters." The Sea Fishing Boats Louis Nattero is above all a painter of the Mediterranean. For him, it is the true subject of expression when he paints the poetry of a twilight, the sleeping wave of the coves, the fishermen pulling up their nets in an almost hushed calm. He is not the painter of tumult. In his work, the characters are rare, often distant: a sailor drinking at the feast, a boat on the horizon, fishermen mending their nets, walkers on a quay. Like a photographer, he captures his subjects in everyday life and freely interprets them. Largely influenced by the Impressionists, Nattero makes light the essential element of his painting. "The vibrant note, such is indeed the goal that Nattero wants to achieve: to this, he is not afraid to sacrifice the precise line. He admirably gives the impression of a teeming crowd on our sunny quays, in our old picturesque streets by skillfully applied impasto." —Marseille Étudiant, May 1905 He knows perfectly the secret of pure colors and it is with precision that he places a touch of red on a fisherman's cap or a touch of white on the rebound of a wave. His palette evolves in shades of blue, mauve, pink, pearly nuances, warm ochre on the twilights; the breaking waves passing from metallic emerald to the lightest, milkiest green ashes. He forgets black.

Works
La Patache in the port of Toulon, oil on canvas, 46 × 61 cm, 1902-1905, Toulon Art Museum.