Marcel Arnaud (1877–1956) Still Life With Apples

A thick, generous impasto, with a genuine sense of materiality created by brushstrokes that follow the forms through coiled spirals on the apples, cross-hatching on the jug’s belly, and broader curves in the bowl.
There is an energy in the brushwork that evokes both theworks of the great Cézanne and the expressive freedom of the Fauvists and Post-Impressionists. 
The work, in excellent condition, is painted on a wood panel signed lower left; it is presented in a simple gilded frame measuring 63.5 cm by 73.5 cm, with the panel alone measuring 56.5 cm by 66 cm.
In excellent condition, it is signed in the lowerleft corner; on the back is an illegible sketch of another painting.
It depicts a still life featuring abowl overflowing with red and yellow apples; a large stoneware jug with a handleand spout  occupies the top of the composition; an orange-ochre glazed eart henwarepot stands on the right; and on the left, a small, light-colored figurine (certainlya plaster sculpture) seems to watch over the whole scene.
The entire scene rests on a bluish drapery with dynamic folds, set against a highly detailed gray-blue background.
The grayish blues and cool greens of the background and the tablecloth make the reds, oranges, and yellows of the apples—which form theof the painting, and the main subject—the eye is constantly drawn back to it.
A still life that comes to life with this enigmatic and mysterious figurine, whose white,elongated and schematic, stands out from the background yet remains enigmatic, introducing a strange note to this realistic work.
A powerful, expressionist work, full of character, where color and texture take precedence over figurative accuracy.

A student of Jules Maistre at the École des Beaux-Artsin Marseille and an apprentice with the set designers Apy & Partol, he moved to Paris at the age of 18, where he worked at Capezat and Thibé, designed theater sets forJusseaume while studying the old masters at theLouvre Museum, notably Rembrandt.
He met the sculptor AntoineBourdelle.
Longing for his hometown, he returned to Marseille, where he married in 1904.
He met Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) in Saint-Henri near Marseille and painted several works there in Cézanne’s presence.
He exhibited at several regional art shows (winning a gold medal in Toulon in 1902), was a member of the “Le Cénacle” and presented sixty works at the Galerie Jules Olive.
In 1914, he was appointed professor at the École des Beaux-Arts in Aix-en-Provence and later served as its director from 1917 to 1946.
At the sametime, Marcel Arnaud refused to sell his entire collection of works already painted to the famous art dealer Ambroise Vollard, who had made a private request for them.
His friend JohnRewald supported him on this point; JohnRewald wrote: “Marcel Arnaud brings to painting the Cézannian continuity that time did not allow Paul Cézanne to achieve.”
The numerous exchanges of letters between Cézanne and Marcel Arnaud were, in fact, in the possession of JohnRewald.
He also served as curator of the Granet Museum in Aix-en-Provence from 1926 to 1947.
In 1953–1954, he painted a series of works depicting Évian as seen from Geneva.
He exhibited in Marseille and Aix-en-Provence until his death in 1956.
He is buried in the Saint-Pierre Cemetery in Aix-en-Provence, in the same plot as PaulCézanne (1839–1906).
Marcel Arnaud was a Knight of the Legion of Honor