Félix Ziem (1821-1911) signé et daté 1871. Venise, les jardins français

Relined canvas, 127 cm x 82 cm.
Frame, 132 cm x 88 cm.

Our work has been certified by the Félix Ziem Association, represented by Mrs. Mathias Ary Jan and David Pluskwa. Certificate 293/0324 will be given to the buyer. Furthermore, our painting will be included in the artist's catalogue raisonné, currently being prepared. This exceptional painting by Félix Ziem offers a lively view of the main entrance to the French Gardens in Venice (designed and created by Napoleon I). Dated 1871, it was painted by an artist at the height of his artistic talent before the turn of the 1880s. The overall impression does not yet surpass the attention to detail; quite the contrary. The color palette is, of course, very rich but still restrained, even if we can discern a shift toward the autonomous, uninhibited colors of later decades, particularly with the trees in the central section. While they are located in the background and as such should be discreet, the artist chooses to use a light blue with green highlights. This central part of the composition then also becomes central to the eye, drawn to this color. Water and sky occupy a prominent place in Ziem's ??work; he likes to pay particular attention to the light in his skies and the reflections of the water; our painting is a magnificent example.

Félix Ziem, his painting:

His early works are treated with a light paste, reminiscent of his first profession as a watercolorist. He is close to the "plein-air artists" of the time, Corot and the Barbizon painters. Around 1855, Ziem's ??art took a new direction. This marked the beginning of his period of blossoming. The artist specialized in views of Venice and Turkey. With extraordinary technical virtuosity, his touch was fine and delicate, relatively smooth. Fond of enriching his painting with impasto, he created masterpieces of poetry, lyricism, and balance, transposing onto canvas an almost fantasized vision that we love to have of Venice and the Orient in general. This explains his considerable success. From the 1980s onward, his painting evolved; his touch became freer, more flexible, and the colors intensified. The overall impression predominated over attention to detail, to the point where the subject almost disappeared. Like other painters, Boudin and Jongkind, to name but a few, he participated in the avant-garde theories of the early 20th century. Throughout his life, he paid particular attention to atmospheric variations and therefore to the representation of light on everything.

Félix Ziem, his life:

Ziem took drawing and architecture classes at the École des Beaux-Arts in Dijon in 1837-1838 and won first prize in the 1838 competition in the architecture-composition category. He left the region to join his brother who had settled in Marseille. He was hired as a construction manager. The Duke of Orléans, then visiting Marseille, discovered his work and commissioned three watercolors from him in 1840. Ziem then devoted himself to his career as a painter and draftsman. He opened a drawing school on the Old Port, welcoming up to twenty students. In 1840, he discovered Martigues, where he returned to set up a studio in 1860. In 1841, he left Marseille for Italy. He stopped for a while in Nice, where wealthy English and Russians were staying, forming part of his clientele. In 1842, he discovered Italy, and especially Venice, which became the main source of inspiration for his painting. There, he met the Duchess of Baden and Prince Gagarin. Probably at the latter's urging, he traveled to Russia in 1843. He became watercolor teacher to the Grand Duchesses in St. Petersburg. There, he met Horace Vernet. He then traveled throughout Italy (Genoa, Milan, Florence, where he stayed for eight months), and the South of France. In 1847, he made his first trip to Constantinople from Venice. In 1848, he traveled to Rome. In 1849, his father died. He exhibited views of the Bosphorus, Rome, and Venice at the Paris Salon for the first time. He became a relative regular there. He then settled in Paris, on the Quai Malaquais, and divided his time between the capital and the forest of Fontainebleau, where he became friends with Théodore Rousseau and Jean-François Millet. He then painted scenes of daily life, portraits, and rural landscapes, which temporarily connected him to the Barbizon school, where he began painting in 1853. He bought a house there at number 56 Grande Rue, which he occupied from 1907 to 1911. 1856 was the year of his extensive journey to the Orient: Constantinople, Turkey, Lebanon, Greece, and Egypt, where he traveled down the Nile to Khartoum. He frequently used the recomposition of the subject in his Montmartre studio, as evidenced by his numerous sketchbooks. He completed his trip in Sicily, and in 1858, he returned to Algeria. In 1859, he moved to the Montmartre district, before the wild excitement of the École de Paris, and settled on Rue de l'Empereur (later Rue Lepic). But he always maintained a base in Barbizon. Until 1880, he traveled throughout Europe, especially Venice, where he stayed at least twice a year.