Adolphe Monticelli: The Romantic Painter Before Impressionism
Adolphe Joseph Thomas Monticelli (14 October 1824 – 29 June 1886) was a French painter of the generation preceding the Impressionists. He developed a highly individual Romantic style that would later influence Vincent van Gogh and prefigure modernist approaches to color and brushwork.
Early Life and Education
Monticelli was born in Marseille in humble circumstances. From 1842 to 1846, he attended the École Municipale de Dessin in Marseille before continuing his artistic training in Paris, where he studied under Paul Delaroche at the École des Beaux-Arts. In the capital, he made copies after the Old Masters in the Louvre and developed a deep admiration for the oil sketches of Eugène Delacroix.
Career and Achievements
In 1855, Monticelli met Narcisse Diaz, a member of the Barbizon school, and the two frequently painted together in the Fontainebleau Forest. Monticelli adopted Diaz’s practice of introducing nudes or elegantly costumed figures into his landscapes. His own approach evolved into a distinctive style marked by richly colored, dappled, textured, and glazed surfaces that produced a scintillating effect. He painted courtly subjects inspired by Antoine Watteau, as well as still lifes, portraits, and Orientalist subjects influenced by Delacroix.
After 1870, Monticelli returned to Marseille, where he lived in poverty despite a prolific output, selling his paintings for small sums. An unworldly man, he dedicated himself single-mindedly to his art. The young Paul Cézanne befriended Monticelli in the 1860s, and the older painter’s influence appeared in Cézanne’s work of that decade. Between 1878 and 1884, the two artists often painted landscapes together, once spending a month roaming the Aix countryside.
Although Monticelli experimented briefly around 1870 with a treatment of light reflecting the discoveries of the Impressionists, he found the objectivity of this approach uncongenial. His work reached its greatest spontaneity in the decade before his death in 1886.
Notable Events and Milestones
When confronted with criticism of his style, Monticelli remarked, “I paint for thirty years from now.” Vincent van Gogh greatly admired Monticelli’s work after seeing it in Paris when he arrived there in 1886, the same year Monticelli died. Van Gogh immediately adopted a brighter palette and bolder attack, later remarking, “I sometimes think I am really continuing that man.” In 1890, Van Gogh and his brother Theo were instrumental in publishing the first book about Monticelli.
Awards and Honors
A monument honoring Monticelli, designed in 1909 by sculptor Auguste Carli, was installed in the Palais Longchamp in Marseille. His reputation grew significantly after his death, and his work was collected by notable figures including Oscar Wilde, who mentioned his Monticelli paintings in his 1895 letter “De Profundis” written after his imprisonment.
Additional Resources
More than a century after his death, Monticelli’s art remains subject to controversy, with critical opinion ranging from those who see his work as prefiguring modernism to detractors who dismiss it outright. Exhibitions such as “Van Gogh and Monticelli” (2008–2009 in Marseille) and “Van Gogh and Co. Criss-crossing the collection” (2015 in Otterlo) have explored his influence and legacy. Readers seeking deeper biographical and critical context can consult Wikipedia and other art historical archives.
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