Marius-antoine Barret (1865-1929), Man Wearing A Salopette

Marius-Antoine Barret (1865-1929)
Man wearing a salopette
Black pencil, graphite pencil and heightened with white chalk on paper
Signed “Marius Barret” lower right
Dimensions of the work: 25.5 x 19 cm
Dimensions of the frame: 40 x 30 cm
Tiny tear at the top right, tiny spots

Painter and engraver of the Provencal school, Marius-Antoine Barret was born in Marseille in 1865. A pupil of Dominique Magaud and Raphaël Collin, he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français in from 1886 where he obtained an honorable mention in 1923 followed by a silver medal in 1928. He also distinguished himself as an illustrator and participated among others in the Exhibition of the Art Book as well as in the 'Exhibition of the Artistic Society of Wood Engraving where his illustration work of the prose poems of Maurice de Guérin (1810-1839), Le Centaure and La Bacchante, is particularly noted (1929).

Marius-Antoine Barret paints many landscapes typical of the Provençal hinterland, often animated by animals and villagers busy with their daily activities (shepherds, mothers and children). Author of portraits, he represents both elegant women of his time and workers and craftsmen at work (the dresser-gilder, the seamstress, the milliner, etc.). He shows particular skill in the representation of costumes and other work clothes as well as in the precision of the gestures of his models.

The two pencil drawing that we propose represents a man humbly dressed in overalls. His original posture, facing forward, his back bent and his arms resting on his knees, is reminiscent of his labor.

Public collections : Marseille, Musée Cantini / Marseille, Musée des Beaux-Arts / Digne-les-Bains, Musée Gassendi / Barcelonnette, Musée de la Vallée