Pierre Ambrogiani (1907-1985) Still Life With Ears Of Corn And Gourds

Did you say colors?
Did you say texture?
This work brings together everything that made Pierre Ambrogiani, the flamboyant leader of the Provençal school of the 1950s, famous.
Ears of corn, the extravagant shapes of several gourds in contrasting and decorative colors—this is a still life that is anything but lifeless, but rather full of life, charm, and originality.
The work, in good condition, is presented in a simple black frame measuring 73 cm by 93 cm, while the canvas itself measures 60 cm by 81 cm.
The work is signed in the paint in the lower right corner.

A self-taught artist, influenced by Seyssaud and Chabaud, he was encouraged in his early days by Antoine Serra, who lent him his studio. In 1936, at the inauguration of the Maison de la Culture in Marseille, he met Picasso, who became one of his friends (the 1962 Homage to Picasso). A caricaturist for the newspaper "Le Radical," he achieved his first success in 1938 when the Marseille Museum of Fine Arts purchased one of his works. A very popular and particularly colorful figure in Marseille, Pierre Ambrogiani was a friend of Marcel Pagnol and Jean Giono.
His studio was located on Cours d'Estienne d'Orves, near the Old Port. He traveled the countryside in his car, which served as his mobile studio, painting en plein air.
He moved into a studio on Quai Rive Neuve in Marseille in 1943.
Renowned for his vibrant palette, he painted landscapes of the South of France and still lifes of fish.
He also engraved numerous plates to illustrate books.
In 1962, he decorated the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Marseille with frescoes and stained glass windows.
He designed a postage stamp, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, in 1961.
Forced by illness and infirmity to stop painting in 1973, Pierre Ambrogiani died in 1985 and was buried in the Saint-Pierre cemetery in Marseille.
His body was later transferred to the cemetery in Sault, Vaucluse.

Works in Public Collections:

Ajaccio, Palais Fesch (Museum of Fine Arts), Self-Portrait;
Avignon, Calvet Museum;
Châlons-en-Champagne, Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology: The Port, The Marquisans;
Châteauneuf-le-Rouge, Arteum Museum of Contemporary Art;
Marseille, Museum of Fine Arts: Boats;
Marseille, Cantini Museum.
Marseille, Regards de Provence Museum.
Meudon, Museum of Art and History: The Old Port of Marseille, 1953.
Montpellier, Fabre Museum. Paris, Prints Department of the National Library of France.
Paris, National Museum of Modern Art.
Pully, Museum of Art. Saint-Chamas,
Paul-Lafran Municipal Museum, Portrait of René Seyssaud, 1950.
Saint-Cyprien (Pyrénées-Orientales), The Saint-Cyprien Collections.
Sète, Paul-Valéry Museum, Bord du Jarret, 1944.
Toulon, Museum of Art.
Toulouse, National Institute of Applied Sciences.

Group Exhibitions: Marseille Cultural Center, 1936.
Autumn Salon, Paris, 1937.
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1948.
Exhibition of bullfighting art presented by the Pena de Bernui, Society of Southern Artists, Toulouse Arts Center, 1956.
Salon of Painters Witnessing Their Time, Palais Galliera, Paris, 1957 (theme: Sport; painting presented: Water Skiing).
1961 (theme: Riches of France; painting presented: The Grain Does Not Die), 1963, 1967, 1974.
Mediterranean Seascapes and Ports, Regards de Provence Foundation, Marseille, May-September 2009.
Corsican Painters, Lazaret Ollandini, Ajaccio, October-November 2012.
Colors and Lights, The Saint-Cyprien Collections, June-August 2017.
Mediterranean Stopovers, Regards de Provence Museum, Marseille, June 2017 - January 2018.
A as in Ambrogiani, B as in Baboulène, C as in Camoin, or the Painters of the Mediterranean, Pierre-Puget Hall, Ollioules, November 2017.
Awards and Distinctions: Menton International Prize, 1951.
Officer of the Order of Postal Merit, decree of December 17, 1963.
Grand Prize of the Salon of Painters Witnessing Their Time, 1967, for the painting The Death of the Poet.
Gemmail Prize for "Painter of Light," Tours, 1968, for the painting Procession in Spain