Emmanuel Mateo – Marseille, Harbor Quay – Oil On Panel – Signed

Emmanuel Mateo (20th century)
Marseille, Quai du Port
Oil on thick marine plywood
Signed lower right “E. Mateo,” titled and signed on the back
26.5 x 21.5 cm – 29 x 24 cm with frame
Very good condition
Frame: modern matte gold molding, very good condition

End of the day at the Old Port. The sun is low, shadows stretch across the pier, and the facades take on a golden-yellow hue.

In the foreground, the pier is wide and bright; a few strollers linger at the water’s edge. On the right, a tall house still in shadow blocks the view and casts a long, dark diagonal shadow on the ground.

In the center, a row of moored boats displays their colorful hulls: white, turquoise, red, and pale blue. Behind them, a forest of masts stands out against the tall buildings with red-tiled roofs, dominated by a pointed bell tower. Far to the left, in the evening mist, one can make out the towers of Fort Saint-Jean at the entrance to the harbor.

The painting is vibrant and expansive. Mateo applies the hulls, roofs, and reflections with a palette knife: the paint is thick and catches the light. The sky, by contrast, is painted in a light layer. In places, the wood shows through the blue and warms the overall composition, reinforcing the impression of the end of the day. This contrast between the delicate areas and the impasto adds depth to the scene.
On the back, the artist has written in black paint “Marseille, Quai du port,” followed by his signature.

A small, very luminous painting that captures all the warmth of an evening in Marseille.

Condition: Very good condition, no missing parts. The impasto is well preserved, and the colors have retained all their intensity. The support, a thick marine-grade plywood panel, is sturdy. The matte gold frame is in very good condition.

The Artist
Emmanuel Mateo is a seascape painter with deep ties to Marseille and the Provençal coast. The sea is the central theme of his work: the Old Port and its sailboats, Fort Saint-Jean, the Pharo, the Corniche, Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde as seen from the port, as well as La Ciotat and a few river landscapes.

He works primarily in oil on panel—often on marine plywood—in small and medium formats, using a combination of palette knife and brush. He signs “E. Mateo” in the lower right corner and often inscribes the title and the depicted location on the back, as seen here.

Little is known about his life, and his exact dates are unknown.
Work on view at the gallery (07240)
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