Félix Ziem

French artist Félix Ziem is one of the most original landscape painters of the 19^th century. The exhibition Wanderer on the Sea of Light presented Ziem as an artist who left his mark on 19^th century painting and who is mostly known for his paintings of Istanbul and Venice, where the city and the sea are intertwined. The exhibition was organized in collaboration with Musée Ziem and Martigues Municipality, and was curated by Lucienne Del’Furia and Frédéric Hitzel.

Félix Ziem had visited Istanbul during the Crimean War. His oil paintings stand out with their lively colors and the artist’s effort to capture the flickering effects of the continuously changing light by using a rapid and dynamic brush style. The exhibition illustrated the reasons why the artist was hailed as a forerunner of impressionism and as a pre-impressionist; his stylistic relationship with artists like Monet is quite visible. His drawings exemplify his creative process and present new angles into his work. They also encouraged us to rediscover the city of Istanbul through his perspective. Ziem is accepted as one of the well-known artists of the romantic landscape painting, and has been followed closely by art lovers and collectors of all periods since. He had a profound influence on generations of artists after him, and was the first artist whose works were acquired by the Louvre while he was still alive.

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