Offered by Galerie Thierry Matranga
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Oil on canvas. 18th-century French school. Signed and dated J. Vernet S - 1735
The French master of marine painting invites us to a veritable spectacle. As in the darkness of a theater, the viewer lurks in the shadows, watching fishermen resting as they take shelter in a natural coastal cave. At the heart of this rocky fortress, it is the mineral nature that is highlighted, with the characters relegated to secondary roles. Both exuberant and disturbing, the setting is composed of sharp rocks in warm colors, anchored by trees and shrubs. In the gap, like a glimmer of hope, a fisherman's boat on a misty sea catches the eye.
This unpublished early work is one of the very first that Vernet painted during his stay in Rome (between 1734 and 1752), a period during which he was “left to his own tastes and turned to the still vibrant art of Salvator Rosa.” How can we not see in this composition the influence of his illustrious Neapolitan predecessor? Clearly, our painting belongs to “the series of paintings painted in the warm style of S. Rosa, mostly mountainous sites... with small secondary figures.” Cf. Florence Ingersoll-Smouse
Although Vernet was at the dawn of his career in 1735, our composition is no less virtuosic, illustrating the skill with which, at a very young age, he played with materials, light, and atmosphere. The soul of the man whom art history will remember as the French landscape and seascape painter is omnipresent here.
Our composition is soberly set in a carved and gilded wooden frame with heart and pearl motifs from the Louis XVI period.
Dimensions: 59.5 x 54.5 cm – 72.5 x 67.5 cm with frame
Provenance: German private collection.
