MARCHAND, JEAN (French, 1883-1940)

Marchand is one of the rare painters of his generation who was able to harmoniously paint large scale canvases, combining Cézanne’s approach to materials with a great feeling for colour.
Born in Paris, Marchand was right at the heart of the exciting artistic developments at the turn of the century when he first took up painting. He was taught by the post-impressionist Henri Martin and visited Cézanne’s drawing classes. Paging through his work, it is easy to see that landscapes which include some form of architecture inspired many of his paintings. There are two ways to understand and interpret the architecture with its directions and volumes. Until 1911 Marchand belonged to the Cubist movement, known as the Section d’Or, and constructed his paintings according to the mathematical formula of the Golden Mean. But starting in 1912 he let himself be guided by the spectacle purely provided by nature.
From 1908 onwards he exhibited regularly at the Salon d’Automne and the Salon des Indépenants.

When his work was shown at the London Carfax gallery in 1915, Clive Bell wrote:
‘No living painter is more purely concerned with the creation of form and the emotional significance of shapes and colours than Marchand.’


Public collections include:
Albertina, Vienna
Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris
Musée des Beaux Arts, Brussels
Tate, London