Adolphe Monticelli

Key facts

Lived

1824–1886, French

Movements

• Realism
• Romanticism

1. 1824Born
2. 1850Painted "Christ Blessing the Children"
3. 1850Painted "Aan het altaar"
4. 1875Painted "Kustgebergte"
5. 1886Died

• What is Adolphe Monticelli known for?+

  Adolphe Monticelli is known for turning to rococo-type themes. He developed these themes while based in Marseille.
• What is Adolphe Monticelli's most famous work?+

  It is difficult to name one single work as Adolphe Monticelli's 'most famous', as his output was diverse and his reputation fluctuated after his death in 1886. He produced many paintings, and different works may be considered significant for different reasons. Some of his well-known paintings include a number of figure studies and portraits, such as *Algerian Woman*, *The Laundress*, and *Young Girl in a White Hat*. Monticelli also painted numerous still lifes, for example, *Still Life with Fruit*, *Still Life with Lemons and Oranges*, and *Roses and Jasmine in a Delft Vase*. He created several paintings depicting scenes in Algiers, such as *Algiers, the Garden of Essai* and *The Mosque Arab Holiday*. Monticelli also produced many works simply titled *Landscape*.
• What should I know about Adolphe Monticelli's prints?+

  Adolphe Monticelli (1824-1886) was a French painter associated with the generation of artists between Eugène Delacroix and the Impressionists. He is best known for his thickly painted, colour-saturated oil paintings. Monticelli's printmaking is a less explored aspect of his work. He produced relatively few prints, and they are not as widely recognised as his paintings. Those that exist are mainly etchings and lithographs. These prints often feature subjects similar to those in his paintings: fêtes galantes (courtly celebrations), scenes from mythology, and portraits. His printmaking style shares characteristics with his painting, particularly in its emphasis on texture and light. However, the print medium required him to adapt his techniques, as he could not directly translate his impasto style. Instead, he used techniques such as cross-hatching and aquatint to create tonal variations and suggest depth. The prints offer a different perspective on Monticelli's artistic vision, revealing his ability to work within the constraints of a different medium while maintaining his distinctive aesthetic.
• What style or movement did Adolphe Monticelli belong to?+

  Adolphe Monticelli lived during a period of considerable change in the art world; Romanticism, Academic art, and Realism all rose to prominence during the 19th century. Romanticism began in the first two decades of the 1800s. It appeared across Europe and America, and Romantic artists valued intuition and passion. They rejected established rules, and individuality took precedence over reason. Academic art attempted to fuse Neoclassicism and Romanticism. Realism was a revolt against emotionalism, and it stressed 'truth to nature'. Realists believed that ordinary people were worthy subjects for art, and they thought Neoclassicism and Romanticism were too contrived. Realism manifested in different ways, but, in France (from about 1800 to 1899), Realists objectively painted modern life without embellishment.
• What techniques or materials did Adolphe Monticelli use?+

  Adolphe Monticelli is known for his distinctive painting style, characterised by a thick application of paint. He often employed impasto, building up layers of pigment on the canvas to create a textured surface. This technique gives his works a tactile quality, with the paint appearing almost sculptural. Monticelli favoured oil paints, and his application methods were quite individual. Rather than mixing colours on a palette, he often applied them directly to the canvas in distinct strokes. This resulted in a broken colour effect, where individual hues remain visible, creating a shimmering quality. He sometimes used his fingers or a palette knife, rather than a brush, to manipulate the paint. His approach to materials was experimental. He was less concerned with traditional academic techniques, and more interested in exploring the expressive potential of paint itself. This emphasis on materiality is a defining aspect of his artistic output.
• What was Adolphe Monticelli known for?+

  Adolphe Monticelli was a 19th-century French painter associated with the Romantic movement. Emerging in the early 1800s, Romanticism valued feeling and imagination over rationalism. It appeared across Europe and America in art, music, literature, and poetry. Romantic painters explored the exotic and emphasised emotion. They prized intuition, passion, suffering, and the power of nature. Imagination was respected, and established rules were rejected. Subjectivity and individuality took precedence over reason. Eugène Delacroix, a French painter, was at the forefront of depicting Romantic narratives set in faraway places and distant times. Romantic painters often chose to paint scenes expressing the Romantic theme of the soul unified with the natural world. Examples include Caspar David Friedrich in Germany and John Constable and J.M.W. Turner in England.
• When did Adolphe Monticelli live and work?+

  Adolphe Monticelli was born in Marseille, France, on 4 October 1824. He died there on 19 June 1886. Monticelli entered the École Municipale de Dessin in Marseille in 1842, and from 1844 to 1846, he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. While in Paris, he copied Old Master paintings in the Louvre. Around 1848, Monticelli returned to Marseille. He sent paintings to the Paris Salon, with increasing frequency during the 1850s. He befriended Paul Cézanne in the early 1860s, and for a time, they painted together. In 1870, at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, Monticelli moved to Aix-en-Provence. After the war, he returned to Marseille, where he lived in relative poverty, though he continued to paint prolifically until his death.
• Where can I see Adolphe Monticelli's work?+

  Adolphe Monticelli's paintings are held in numerous public collections, mainly in France. These include the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nancy, Nantes, Dijon, Lille, and Rouen; the Musée Crozatier in Le Puy; the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse; and the Musée d’Art et d’Industrie in Saint Etienne. Several museums in Paris also hold his works: the Musée du Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Musée du Petit Palais, Musée des Arts Decoratifs, and Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou. Other locations include the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec in Albi; the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Besançon; the Musée de la Chartreuse in Douai; the Musée de Peinture et de Sculpture in Grenoble; the Musée de Moulins; the Musée des Beaux-Arts Jules Cheret and Musée Matisse in Nice; the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Orléans; the Musée Gustave Moreau; the Musée Rodin; the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Quimper and Rennes; the Musée Saint-Denis in Reims; the Musée du Prieure in Saint Germain-en-Laye; the Musée de l’Annonciade in Saint Tropez; the Musée du Haubergier in Senlis; and the Musée d’Art Moderne in Strasbourg.
• Where was Adolphe Monticelli from?+

  Adolphe Monticelli was born in Marseille, France, in 1824. He remained in Marseille for most of his life. Monticelli's early artistic education took place in Marseille, where he was taught by Ziem and other local artists. He later moved to Paris to study under Delaroche from 1846 to 1847, where he met Diaz. He worked with Diaz again in Paris during 1855 and 1856. Diaz's influence led Monticelli to explore rococo themes, which he developed further while living in Paris between 1863 and 1870. In 1871, Monticelli returned to Marseille permanently. During this later period, he occasionally collaborated with Cézanne. His work, including landscapes, still-lives, portraits, and imaginary figure scenes, became increasingly improvisational in colour and style. Monticelli died in Marseille in 1886.
• Who did Adolphe Monticelli influence?+

  Adolphe Monticelli's influence is complex. During the late 19th century, many artists working throughout Europe gradually became aware of Impressionism. Figures such as Claude Monet, in particular, became sources of inspiration for generations of artists. The Austrian art scene was no exception; many Austrian artists adopted aspects of Monet's style. For example, Alfred Zoff attempted to imitate Monet’s colour schemes by composing forms using luminous, coloured brushstrokes. In his later paintings, Zoff portrayed the sea with an intensity that recalled Monet’s pictures of the coastline of the South of France. Other Austrian artists who responded to Monet's compositions include Johann Victor Kramer, who reacted directly to Monet’s Church at Vétheuil, and Olga Wisinger-Florian, whose garden and flower pictures echoed Monet's compositions and inventions. These artists' works illustrate how Monet’s compositions were a confrontational source of inspiration and stimulus.
• Who influenced Adolphe Monticelli?+

  Adolphe Monticelli, like other artists of his era, gained knowledge from studying masters in the Louvre; in effect, the museum became a second school. He learned about colour from studying eighteenth-century Venetian artists and Peter Paul Rubens. Later, Claude Monet provided stimuli relating to technique and composition. Monet's pictures became a source of inspiration for some Austrian artists, such as Gustav Klimt, Heinrich Kiihn, Carl Moll, and Emil Jakob Schindler. However, these artists all preserved their own individual characteristics and only absorbed elements of Monet’s work that conformed to their own objectives. Originality can define itself as the intersection of multiple influences, a combination that one artist can accomplish. Johan Barthold Jongkind advised the young Monet and replaced Boudin as his mentor. Monet said, "From then on he was my true master, and it is to him that I owe the definitive education of my eye."
• Who was Adolphe Monticelli?+

  Adolphe Monticelli (1824-1886) was a painter born in Marseille, where he lived for most of his life. He received early instruction in Marseille from Ziem and others. Later, from 1846 to 1847, he studied with Delaroche in Paris, where he encountered Diaz. Monticelli's time in Paris influenced his artistic direction. He collaborated with Diaz upon returning to Paris in 1855-6 and, through this association, adopted themes reminiscent of the Rococo period. He further explored these themes while based in Paris from 1863 to 1870. In 1871, Monticelli returned to Marseille permanently. There, he occasionally worked with Cézanne. His later works, including still-lives, portraits, imaginary figure scenes, and what he termed "countrysides", became increasingly improvisational in both colour and technique. Monticelli's still-life paintings are believed to originate from the last decade of his life. These works feature a generous application of paint, executed wet on wet in bold colours. He told one sitter that models could be bothersome, and that a work where the painter does not freely intervene is not a true artwork. His art had a strong effect on Vincent van Gogh; Theo van Gogh bought similar still-lives for himself and his brother. Monticelli's reputation was initially established in Britain through exhibitions organised by Alexander Reid.