Luc Raphaël Ponson (1835-1904)

RARE and BEAUTIFUL oil on cardboard by Raphael Ponson titled on the back and counter-signed by the hand of the painter "Pont d'Arc near Vallon, Ardeche", signed lower left. Format without frame 29x38cm. It is indeed a superb and therefore rare composition of Ponson, sublimely treated as usual, thanks to a touch of the most realistic and a palette of great subtlety; I say rare, because indeed, as the views of the Côte d'Azur are legion at Ponson, both those in the interior of the country and even more the Ardeche are an absolute rarity in his work. I present Raphaël Ponson quickly as his fame is important, it is indeed part of the greatest Provençal painters of the 19th century alongside Loubon, Olive or Courdouan. Luc Raphaël Ponson born May 12, 1835 in Solliès-Pont (Var), and died January 31, 1904 in Marseille; Renowned for his landscapes of the Provençal coast, Raphaël Ponson is the son of a theater designer who teaches him the basics of painting. Then he took classes at the practical drawing school of Marseille where he was a pupil of Emile Loubon, who taught him to paint landscapes in respect of the local tone. He went to Paris in 1855 and 1856, then to Italy where he completed his training. He then settled permanently in Marseille. It begins at the Salon de Marseille in 1852, and the Salon de Paris in 1861 with La Châtaigneraie around Chevreuse and The Castle of If in the harbor of Marseille. In 1863, he decorated the gallery of private apartments of the new prefecture of Marseille. For the decoration of the rooms on the first floor of the Museum of Natural History of the Longchamp Palace, Henri-Jacques Esperandieu uses Raphael Ponson whose "flexible and brilliant talent would be perfectly suited to the execution of this work" according to the words of the architect when submitting the letter of submission to the municipal council1. In 1867, he decorated three rooms on the first floor where he painted the most extraordinary natural sites: Niagara Falls, sea ice, Amazon rainforest and the basaltic caves of Fingal in one of the Hebrides. The most famous room is that of Provence, where Ponson represents different landscapes for each of the small regions of Provence: cork oaks, chestnut trees and arbutus trees for the Var, olives and oleanders for the Bouches-du-Rhône, and mulberries, almonds and melons for the Vaucluse2. He also decorates the Rigaud3 café and the Plauchut4 pastry shop at the top of the Canebière in Marseille. He specializes in the representation of the beaches, creeks and sea shores around Marseille, but his talent suffers from a large production. To distinguish himself from his younger brother, Étienne Aimé Ponson, painter of still lifes, he adds his name to his surname5. Present in many regional exhibitions, he receives several awards. Raphael Ponson died January 31, 1904 and is buried in Marseille at the cemetery of St. Peter in the family vault where rests his son Edward (died in 1885), whose portrait in medallion was carved by Henri-Edward Lombard. The painter Émile Loubon (1809-1863) is also buried in this part of the cemetery. This beautiful oil is part of a series of 3, they have all been authenticated and appraised by a Marseillais expert, so authentic guarantee. It is in very good condition, delivered in a nice modern golden frame.