Joseph Garibaldi (1863–1941) - The Port Of Cassis, 1891

CASSIS, OFF-SEASON

Joseph Garibaldi, painter of “marine landscapes,” is a masterful interpreter of Mediterranean light, tirelessly exploring its effects on the waves. Born in Marseille in 1863, he took up painting on the recommendation of Louis Prat, owner of the Marseille-based spirits company Noilly-Prat, where his father worked. A student of the still-life painter Antoine Vollon—as was Jean-Baptiste Olive—the young artist forged strong bonds of friendship with Vollon’s son, Alexis, which endured even after the master’s death in 1900.

His works most often depict ports along the Mediterranean coast: La Ciotat, Bandol, Sanary, Toulon, and Cassis, as evidenced by the painting we are presenting here, dominated by the silhouette of Cap Canaille.
The morning sun gently gilds the facades of the fishermen’s houses, none of which have yet been converted into restaurants. Far from the summer bustle we know today, the small fishing port watches as the boats and their rowers drift away across the calm waters on this peaceful morning.

In Garibaldi’s paintings, the human presence is often incidental, and the sharpness of the composition—with its almost photographic precision—does not prevent the artist from maintaining a distance from the subject, achieved through other technical elements such as framing, the treatment of color and light, and the omission of details that might betray the march of modernity. These snapshots thus take on a timeless quality. The prevailing mood in these compositions is one of profound tranquility—a solitude tinged with nostalgia—in keeping with the spirit of the Félibrige movement.

Garibaldi was also particularly attached to and loyal to the port of Marseille, where, from his studio on the Quai de Rive-Neuve, he never ceased to explore the forest of masts spread out beneath his windows.