Henri Baret – Maldormé Cove In Marseille – Oil On Panel – Signed And Dated 1905 On The Reverse

Henri Baret (Marseille School, first half of the 20th century)
Maldormé Cove in Marseille, 1905
Oil on panel (two boards)
Signed lower left “Henri Baret”
Handwritten label on the reverse: “Maldormé Cove / Villa la Joconde / in 1905”
Dimensions: 43.5 × 26 cm (panel) — 53 × 35 cm (with frame)
Modern molded frame with grooves, gilded trim
Very good condition

In the soft light of late afternoon, Henri Baret paints one of the prettiest coves along the Marseille Corniche, Anse de Maldormé, nestled on the Malmousque peninsula between Batterie des Lions Beach and Anse de la Fausse Monnaie.

In the foreground, a blue fishing boat is pulled up onto the pebbles near a small hut; an ochre-colored rocky outcrop closes off the small bay, while offshore a few sailboats glide across a calm sea, against the bluish line of the hills. On the hill to the right stands a large building with a terrace: this is most likely the villa identified on the reverse as “La Joconde,” the famous “folie” of the Corniche, remodeled in the 1930s, the former Buffet café-restaurant now known as La Petite Ourse, still recognizable on many old postcards of Marseille.

The brushwork is free and bold, with light impasto capturing the light on the rocks and the wake of the boats, in the vein of Provençal landscape painters committed to rendering the luminous atmosphere of the coastline.

The interest of this panel lies in its dual value: a charming southern seascape, and a dated topographical document (1905) of an iconic Marseille site, identified in the handwriting of its former owner.

The artist
Henri Baret was a French painter associated with the Marseille school, active in the first half of the 20th century (works dated 1936 are known). Biographical information about him is scarce, but his work is well documented through public auctions: he devoted himself to landscapes of Provence and especially the Marseille coastline, painting the calanques, the entrance to the port of Marseille, Cap Morgiou, and the coves of the Corniche. His sunny and lively painting follows in the tradition of Marseille’s landscape artists—from Loubon to Moutte—who made the Provençal coast their favorite subject.

Work on view at the gallery (07240)
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